On October 20, Destroyer returns with ken.
Of his 12th studio album and its enigmatic title, Destroyer’s Dan Bejar offers the following:
Sometime last year, I discovered that the original name for “The Wild Ones” (one of the great English-language ballads of the last 100 years or so) was “Ken.” I had an epiphany, I was physically struck by this information. In an attempt to hold on to this feeling, I decided to lift the original title of that song and use it for my own purposes. It’s unclear to me what that purpose is, or what the connection is. I was not thinking about Suede when making this record. I was thinking about the last few years of the Thatcher era. Those were the years when music first really came at me like a sickness, I had it bad. Maybe “The Wild Ones” speaks to that feeling, probably why Suede made no sense in America. I think “ken” also means “to know.”
ken was produced by Josh Wells of Black Mountain, who has been the drummer in Destroyer since 2012. The album was recorded in its entirety in the jam space/studio space that the group calls The Balloon Factory. However, unlike Poison Season, ken was not recorded as a “band” record, though everyone in the band does make an appearance.
ken will also be available as a Deluxe LP: Pressed on opaque yellow vinyl and includes a bonus 7-inch single on black vinyl that contains solo acoustic versions of the album tracks “A Light Travels Down the Catwalk” and “Stay Lost.” Includes lyric insert.
Destroyer is also happy to share a run of European tour dates this winter. See full run of dates below.
Destroyer.lnk.to/ken
ken Track Listing
1 Sky’s Grey
2 In the Morning
3 Tinseltown Swimming in Blood
4 Cover From the Sun
5 Saw You at the Hospital
6 A Light Travels Down the Catwalk
7 Rome
8 Sometimes In the World
9 Ivory Coast
10 Stay Lost
11 La Regle du Jeu
UK/EU Tour Dates
11/12 – Hamburg, DE – Kampnagel
11/13 – Aarhus, DK – Voxhall
11/14 – Oslo, NO – John Dee
11/15 – Stockholm, SE – Fasching
11/16 – Copenhagen, DN – Vega
11/16 – Berlin, DE – Festsaal Kreuzberg
11/19 – Dusseldorf, DE – New Fall Festival
11/21 – Zurich, CH – Rote Fabrik
11/22 – Montpellier, FR – Le Rockstore
11/23 – San Sebastian, ES – Teatro Victoria Eugenia
11/25 – Madrid, ES – Teatro Barcelo
11/26 – Valencia, ES – La Rambleta
11/27 – Barcelona, ES – Sala Bikini
11/29 – Lille, FR – L’ Aeronef
11/30 – Brighton, UK – Patterns
12/01 – Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club
12/03 – Dublin, IE – Button Factory
12/05 – Glasgow, UK – CCA (270)
12/06 – Newcastle, UK – The Cluny
12/07 – London, UK – Scala
12/08 – Paris, FR – Petit Bain
12/09 – Amsterdam, NE – Paradiso Noord
12/10 – Brussels, BE – Botanique Brussels