KEN mode has released “These Wires,” the latest single from its upcoming album, VOID.
The sequel to last year’s acclaimed NULL album, VOID will be released September 22nd on Artoffact Records.
Stream “These Wires,” here: Bandcamp / Spotify
Pre-order VOID, here: https://kenmode.bandcamp.com/album/void
KEN mode frontman Jesse Matthewson gives this statement about the new song: “Why would anything feel right again? Do you get the sense that a lot of people have been fundamentally damaged by the pandemic? The psychological fallout of this event is going to be seen for years to come, and this is its anthem.”
An 8-minute epic, building from an icy lament into a deluge of distress, “These Wires” is perhaps the song that best expresses VOID’s story of sorrow and dismay. Centered around a simple piano melody, courtesy of newest member Kathryn Kerr, and Matthewson’s fragile spoken words, the song erupts into thunderous rhythms, propelled by the machine-like interplay of bassist Skot Hamilton and Jesse’s brother Shane Matthewson on drums. Jesse’s pleas hit with all the directness of Henry Rollins (whose “KEN mode” acronym, described in his book, Get in the Van, provided the Matthewsons with the inspiration for their band’s name, almost 25 years ago) as he belts out the song’s crucial six-word phrase: “Why would anything feel right again?”
Released in September of last year, KEN mode’s eighth album, NULL, was inspired by the bleakest days of the COVID-19 pandemic and saw the band create some of the rawest, harshest material of its career. The album also marked the official debut of multi-instrumentalist Kerr, who helped install a new palette of No Wave and industrial-tinged sounds into the band’s trademark mix of metallic hardcore and noise rock.
Amongst other honors, NULL earned KEN mode the front cover of Decibel Magazine, wherein the music was described as “evocative, guttural, Howl-esque poetry laid over frantic, Godflesh-ian soundscapes.” A review from Stereogum stated: “NULL is KEN mode at their peak as composers.”
Arriving exactly one year after NULL, VOID is KEN mode’s ninth full-length album. More than merely the follow-up to NULL, VOID is a companion to that album, inspired by the same events, and written and recorded within the same time frame. Where NULL embodied the chaos and shock of the early days of the pandemic, VOID is the sound of disappointment and sadness that followed.
Upon VOID’s release in September, KEN mode will embark on a tour of Europe, including dates with Fange and Lingua Ignota, followed by US dates with Baroness and a slot on the next Decibel Metal & Beer Fest in Denver.
Tour:
Sep 24 – Porto, PT @ Amplifest
Sep 26 – Rouen, FR @ Le 106 w/Fange
Sep 27 – Lille, FR @ L’Aéronef w/Fange
Sep 28 – Paris, FR @ Point Ephémère w/Fange
Sep 29 – Angoulême, FR @ La Nef w/Fange
Sep 30 – Clermont-Ferrand, FR @ La Coopérative de Mai w/Fange
Oct 1 – Yverdon-Les-Bains, CH @ L’Amalgame
Oct 2 – Karlsruhe, DE @ Jubez w/Fange
Oct 3 – Dresden, DE @ Ostpol w/Fange
Oct 4 – Wroclaw, PL @ Klub Łącznik w/Fange
Oct 5 – Berlin, DE @ Urban Spree w/Fange
Oct 7 – Aalborg, DK @ 1000 Fryd w/Fange
Oct 8 – Aarhus, DK @ HeadQuarters w/Fange
Oct 10 – Liege, BE @ La Zone w/Fange
Oct 11 – Haarlem, NL @ Patronaat w/Fange
Oct 12 – Bruxelles, BE @ Le Botanique w/Fange
Oct 13 – Brighton, UK @ The Hope & Ruin
Oct 14 – London, UK @ Islington Assembly Hall w/Lingua Ignota
Oct 31 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre w/Baroness
Nov 3 – Seattle, WA @ Crocodile w/Baroness
Nov 4 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre w/Baroness
Nov 6 – Edmonton, AB @ Union Hall w/Baroness
Nov 7 – Calgary, AB @ The Palace Theatre w/Baroness
Nov 10 – Saskatoon, SK @ Amigos Cantina
Nov 11 – Winnipeg, MB @ Good Will Social Club w/Tunic
Dec 1 – Denver, CO @ Decibel Metal & Beer Festival
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