The New Deal has announced that it ‘will be on hiatus from North American touring in 2004.’ As a result, performances slated for Philadelphia and Washington in early January will not take place (nor will any gigs in the group’s home nation of Canada, the US or Mexico for that matter). The Toronto-based band has not provided any details beyond a stated desire to focus on studio efforts and side projects. Still the band’s annoucement does leave open the possibility of performance elsewhere in the globe.

The New Deal will close out its US dates, opening for the Disco Biscuits on Wednesday at Avalon in Boston and headlining a two-night run at New York’s Bowery Ballroom on Friday and Saturday