May 8, 2024
');var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !=='undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; })();
KITTIE will release its long- awaited new studio album, "Fire", on Friday, June 21 via Sumerian Records. Heralding the exciting news is the release of brand new single "Vultures" and its accompanying music video featuring live footage of the group's mainstage performance at this year's Sick New World festival in Las Vegas on April 27.
KITTIE vocalist/guitarist Morgan Lander states: "10 years ago, if someone would have told us that we would be releasing new KITTIE music in 2024, we'd have dismissed them right away. It feels like something deeper than fate that's brought us together again, allowing us to create something fearless and magical for you. We've worked incredibly hard over the past year, and surrounded ourselves with the ultimate dream team to make this album a reality. We cannot wait for you to lose yourselves in the passion and strength of 'Fire'.
"'Vultures' is a bold musical declaration, signaling our new beginnings as a band. 'Vultures' is a warning to those with hidden agendas, who thrive on deception. It's a proclamation of breaking free of the chains of exploitation and a reckoning for those who pick at the bones of those who suffer in silence."
"Fire" is available to pre-order now with a variety of merch bundles including exclusive vinyl colorways, t-shirts, a cassette tape, a sticker pack, guitar pick pack, laminate and two metal lunch box designs.
"Fire" track listing
01. Fire
02. I Still Wear This Crown
03. Falter
04. Vultures
05. We Are Shadows
06. Wound
07. One Foot In The Grave
08. Are You Entertained
09. Grime
10. Eyes Wide Open
Last month, KITTIE announced an exclusive run of North American headline dates. The long-awaited shows will see the band perform in five cities across the U.S. and Canada this July and August, giving fans a very special and rare chance to see the band play a full headline set that will include their recently released singles "We Are Shadows" and "Eyes Wide Open" as well as classic hits and some deep cuts not played live since the band's early days.
Last November, it was revealed that KITTIE was working on a new studio LP with producer Nick Raskulinecz at Nashville's Sienna Studios.
Raskulinecz, who moved to Nashville from Los Angeles around 16 years ago, had previously worked with such acts as RUSH, ALICE IN CHAINS, KORN, RISE AGAINST, HALESTORM, EVANESCENCE, SKID ROW and the DEFTONES.
Regarding the overwhelmingly positive response to KITTIE's live shows and music since the band's return in 2022, Lander told Metal Hammer: "I just think that the world is ready for us now. A lot of the things that we were doing 25 years ago were still... I don't want to say controversial, but they seemed so new. It definitely has a lot to do with a shift in thinking and acceptance and representation in the years since the very first time that KITTIE came out. Sometimes it just takes the world a bit of time to catch up and appreciate those things."
In March, Morgan told The MetalSucks Podcast about KITTIE's plans for the rest of 2024: "To be honest with you, this all just feels brand new again. I know that we're veterans of the music industry and whatnot, but we've sort of stepped into a new age and a new era of music releasing and record labels and things like that. So I think the goal is just to just enjoy — for us, for sure — enjoy the process and just — I don't know — put some smiles on people's faces, really. All of the things that come along with releasing new music and an album, like new merch and shows, headlining stuff, album-release stuff, all of that is definitely coming down the pike. But I think ultimately the goal for us is just to sort of enjoy the ride. All of those tangible things will come. It all feels so new and exciting again. So, yeah, we're just here to enjoy the ride."
Asked how she views all the platforms, with social media and music streaming services, now compared to how it was when KITTIE last released new music nearly a decade and a half ago, Morgan said: "Well, I feel like in 2011 [when 'I've Failed You' came out] and 2009 [when 'In The Black' was released], those last two albums, I actually really don't know that Spotify and music and streaming platforms were catching on. And so it was this weird sort of interim period where they may have existed but nobody cared and people were definitely still buying tangible CDs. And, yeah, so now we're in this new era of streaming, and I really feel like music is more accessible than ever and I think more people are listening than ever before, because things are just so easy to find; everything that you need is on a streaming platform. And so I definitely think that it does have its benefits. I mean, as far as being an artist and on the serving-the-artist side of things, it doesn't pay great, but I feel like the audience is greater than ever before. Way back, when we were active, I guess you could say the first time, the industry was definitely a different beast. And this time around, I feel like a lot of people, since we put out our last albums, have discovered the band, a lot of young people as well. And so because streaming [is so widely available], they've had this ability to discover and listen to our old catalog and continue to keep those songs popular and alive. And ultimately, it's that sort of simmering growth that's allowed us to have this opportunity that we have today. So, I don't think that it's a bad thing. I'm excited for the weirdness of the future."
In a recent interview with Knotfest's "She's With The Band" podcast, KITTIE drummer Mercedes Lander and Morgan spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the long-awaited follow-up to the Canadian metallers' 2011 album "I've Failed You". Mercedes said about the musical direction of the new KITTIE material: "I'm gonna say that we are just really stoked to write 1,200 percent bangers. I think that's just where we're at now. We want people to feel good. We want people to feel what we're feeling. I feel like bangers, that's what we're good at."
Asked by host Tori Kravitz about the possibility of KITTIE combining some of the old-school sound from the band's early days and mixing it up with a fresh approach, Morgan said: "I think marrying some of the ideas, 'cause I don't think we're ever going to put our JNCOs [jeans] on again. But, yeah, the idea of marrying some of those ideas — like who we are now with the ideas of who maybe we used to be and kind of being able to meet somewhere in the middle, but in a way that will just create something brand new again. I'm excited for it to be unleashed upon the world."
KITTIE played its first concert in five years in September 2022 at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival at the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia.
Joining Morgan and Mercedes in KITTIE's current lineup guitarist Tara McLeod and bassist Ivana "Ivy" Vujic.
Prior to Blue Ridge, KITTIE had not performed since its reunion show at London Music Hall in the band's native London, Ontario in 2017, celebrating the group's documentary "Kittie: Origins/Evolutions".
Vujic joined KITTIE in 2008 and appeared on the band's fifth studio CD, 2009's "In The Black". She also wrote and recorded bass for KITTIE's sixth album, 2011's "I've Failed You".
In January 2022, the original lineup of KITTIE — Morgan, Mercedes, Fallon Bowman (guitar) and Tanya Candler (bass) — reunited for an online chat to celebrate the 22nd anniversary of its gold-certified 2000 debut album, "Spit".
Candler left KITTIE after the release of "Spit" in order to finish high school and was replaced by Talena Atfield.
Bowman exited KITTIE in 2001 and started her own industrial/electronic project, AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT.
After KITTIE completed the touring cycle for "I've Failed You" album, the band entered a long period of inactivity during which Morgan focused on a marketing job for a chain of fitness clubs while Mercedes worked in real estate and more recently at a software company. The group also began work on a career-spanning documentary, "Origins/Evolutions", which finally saw the light of day in 2018 via Lightyear Entertainment in North America.
"I've Failed You" sold 3,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 178 on The Billboard 200 chart.
KITTIE will play multiple other North American festivals this year, including Welcome To Rockville, Sonic Temple and Havoc Fest.
Photo credit: Dante Dellamore
