King Khan & the Shrines return after a six year hiatus with their new LP Idle No More, due out September 3rd on Merge Records. Seems that in the intervening years frontman Arish Ahmad Khan has been through the ringer, and as he told Rob Ledonneny of the NY Times, “I sort of had a breakdown and was undergoing these serious psychiatric things, so I had to turn off my brain completely. These tracks come after thinking I’d never write music again.” Thematically, “Darkness” definitely reflects those existential struggles, and musically it finds Khan exploring some new territory…and a higher vocal register. The track plays like a haunted ballad, complete with dramatic horns and House of the Rising Sun guitar underpinnings, and as Khan explains, it was his “attempt to do something as real as Nina Simone.” Ok, maybe I prefer the rawer and more raunchy King Khan, but the brother’s goin thru some shit, so you cut him some slack! The awesome stop-motion animation for the video was done by the German-based writer, director and producer Benjael Halfmaderoz of Hylas Film, and the characters are taken from his Circus series. King Khan & the Shrines will be back in the US this fall, so don’t miss the dates below…
King Khan & the Shrines 2013 Tour:
Aug 28 Luxembourg, Luxembourg Exit 07
Aug 29 Haarlem, Neterlands Dutch Garage Rock Explosion @ Patronaat
Aug 30 Salisbury, UK End of the Road Festival
Sep 01 London, UK XOYO
Sep 02 Brighton, UK The Haunt
Sep 04 Paris, FR Trabendo
Sep 05 Brussels, Belgium Magasin 4
Sep 06 Vlieland, Netherlands Great Wide Open Festival
Oct 11 San Diego, CA Casbah
Oct 12 Los Angeles, CA Culture Collide Festival
Oct 13 San Francisco, CA Slims
Oct 14 Portland, OR Dantes
Oct 15 Vancouver, BC The Rickshaw Theatre
Oct 16 Seattle, WA Neumos
Oct 17 Boise, ID Neurolux
Oct 18 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
Oct 19 Denver, CO Larimer Lounge
Oct 20 Kansas City, KS The Record Bar
Oct 21 St. Paul, MN Turf Club
Oct 22 Madison, WI High Noon Saloon
Oct 23 Chicago, IL Bottom Lounge
Oct 24 Cleveland Heights, OH Grog Shop
Oct 25 Detroit, MI Magic Stick
Oct 26 Toronto, ON Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
Oct 27 Montreal, QC La Tulipe
Oct 29 Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall
Oct 30 New York, NY Webster Hall
Oct 31 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
Nov 1 Washington, DC Black Cat
Nov 2 Durham, NC Motorco Music Hall
Nov 4 Atlanta, GA Terminal West
Nov 5 Birmingham, AL Bottletree
Nov 6 New Orleans, LA Siberia
Nov 12 El Paso, TX Tricky Falls
Nov 13 Phoenix, AZ The Crescent Ballroom
