KEN MODE announces US tour with Frail Body
With its eighth full-length album, NULL, set for a September 23rd release on Artoffact Records, KEN mode announces a US fall tour that will see the band bring its metallic noise-rock across the East Coast and Midwest. Included in the 3-week run is a headlining slot at No Coast Fest in Denton, TX, as well as stops in some cities the band has not played since 2015. Supporting KEN mode will be Illinois screamo trio Frail Body.
“We needed to get out and pound the pavement, as it’s the only way we know to properly launch a record,” states KEN mode guitarist/vocalist Jesse Matthewson. “We’re thankful we’re able to bring out a killer younger band like Frail Body, who embodies everything that is right in this music: sick riffs, passion, and emotion. We’ve been working on this one for a while, and are super excited to announce this run, all the way down to Texas, up the East Coast, and back up through the Midwest. I can hear the ‘what about ______?!’ already! Since we’re a day job band these days, we can’t afford to take off 4-6 weeks to do full territory runs anymore, so we try to cover as much range as we can without having our businesses completely fall apart in our absence. Being an adult sucks, but in terms of appropriate distractions from the day to day, we’ve set up an ideal run to showcase all of the new material, and are super excited to get to see Frail Body every night for three weeks! We’re playing a lot of our favorite venues, and are super stoked to see so many of our American friends. More to come, as we continue to navigate this entertaining pandemic performance landscape!”
Oct 20 – St Paul, MN @ Turf Club
Oct 21 – Davenport, IA @ Raccoon Motel
Oct 22 – Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen
Oct 23 – Indianapolis, IN @ Black Circle Brewing Co.
Oct 24 – Columbus, OH @ Big Room Bar
Oct 25 – Nashville, TN @ DRKMTTR
Oct 26 – Little Rock, AR @ Vino’s
Oct 27 – Oklahoma City, OK @ 89th Street
Oct 28 – Austin, TX @ The Lost Well
Oct 29 – Houston, TX @ Black Magic
Oct 30 – Denton, TX @ No Coast Fest
Oct 31 – New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa
Nov 2 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
Nov 3 – Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor
Nov 4 – Philadelphia, PA @ Silk City
Nov 5 – Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus
Nov 6 – Cambridge, MA @ Middle East
Nov 7 – Montreal, QC @ Turbo Haus
Nov 8 – Toronto, ON @ The Baby G
Nov 9 – Detroit, MI @ Sanctuary
Nov 10 – Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club
Nov 12 – Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium
Founded by brothers Jesse and Shane Matthewson, KEN mode has come to define intensity and dedication, via tours with Russian Circles, Torche, and Full of Hell, and releases produced by the likes of Steve Albini, Kurt Ballou, and Matt Bayles. Upcoming new album NULL sees this warhorse of a band emerge from the darkest of times with new energy, evolved and ready to carry on into its next chapter.
Jesse Matthewson points to the bleakest days of the COVID-19 pandemic as a well of inspiration for the new album, proclaiming NULL to be “a direct psychological reaction to the collective experience of the last two and a half years.” Having sunk to new lows, Matthewson was instilled with a newfound urgency to make the most authentic and courageous art possible: “We felt like there was really no reason to do anything at all unless we were trying to push this into something new,” he states.
Recorded and mixed by Andrew Schneider (Cave In, Unsane), NULL is the first KEN mode release to feature collaborator Kathryn Kerr (saxophone, synth, piano, percussion, backing vocals) as a full-fledged member of the band; the album features a new palette of No Wave and industrial-tinged sounds (shades of Swans, John Zorn, Einsturzende Neubauten), infiltrating some of its tracks.
Pre-order the album, HERE.
Stream the band’s latest music video, HERE.
Photo by Brenna Faris
KEN MODE ONLINE:
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ARTOFFACT RECORDS ONLINE:
Bandcamp // Facebook // Instagram // Twitter
