Young Knives Announce First Album In Seven Years 'Barbarians', Share Lead Single Sheep Tick
Tuesday, 31 March 2020
Written by Jon Stickler
Young Knives have announced their first full-length in seven years.
Brothers Henry Dartnall and The House of Lords (aka Thomas Dartnall) will drop 'Barbarians' on September 4, following up 2013's 'Sick Octave'.
The duo revealed that their fifth album was on the way with a post on social media, followed a few days later by the release of its jarring lead single, Sheep Tick. It's an odd proggy slice of alternative rock which comes with an equally freakish video.
"We broke down all the barriers to creativity and made the most cathartic and noisy album of our career,” Henry said.
"As with every Young Knives album, me and House always need a good reason to make it. We often start with some high concept that we feel passionate about and use it like a framework to build lyrics and motifs around. As confirmed but self-aware nihilistic miserabilists we often have to dig our way out of a spiralling bleak world view that would make for a super depressing listen. This album is no different. But I think that’s the point of the records we make: how can we turn the worse aspects of humanity into something really fucking entertaining? Obviously there was a lot going on around the world at the time we were writing the record, with the rise of the alt-right and politics designed to divide us. All this fed into a sense that humans are always going to have this battle between our collective existence and the existence of the individual, some days we give and some days we take.
"I read Straw Dogs after having put it off for years because of the hype. It’s something you can’t un-read. Its key point is that no matter what scientific progress we have made, what advances we have made in our understanding of how the universe works, we have not become better humans, we are no less barbaric. I just thought that it was such an undeniable point; we are obsessed with self and social improvement, but we don’t get any better as human beings. What if cruelty to others is just part of who we are? How do we live with that?"
The pair will support the record with a London show at Colours in Hackey on September 25. Tickets are on sale now.
'Barbarians' tracklist:
1. Swarm
2. Society for Cutting Up Men
3. Jenny Haniver
4. Red Cherries
5. I Am Awake
6. Holy Name ‘68
7. Barbarians
8. Sheep Tick
9. Only a God
10. What I Saw
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