Canadian post-hardcore outfit Alexisonfire have announced their first album in thirteen years, entitled Otherness, which will be released on June 24th via Dine Alone. The band have also unveiled the first single from the forthcoming record “Sweet Dreams of Otherness”. You can pre-order the upcoming album here, and the single can be found on all streaming services. A music video for the song can be viewed down below, directed by Jay Baruchel.
“Sweet Dreams of Otherness” is a song that truly sounds like the logical next step for a band like Alexisonfire. The bombastic quintet have always known how to switch up from record to record, maturing their sound as they age, and this heavy, smoky new tune is no different. Guitarist and singer Dallas Green’s soulful voice is on full display here, ranging from moody and restrained to rich, gale-force high notes. Vocalist George Pettit’s iconic rasping growl grants the song a more ferocious edge over the distortion and near-psychedelic feedback din that storms on in the background.
The announcement of Otherness is momentous news indeed for fans of the Ontario band, whose last full-length album Old Crows/Young Cardinals was released all the way back in 2009. The band’s last (thankfully temporary) hurrah of original music was the 2010 Dog’s Blood EP, before they announced in late 2011 that they were splitting up. The band embarked on a multi-country farewell tour and released the Death Letter EP in 2012, which was a reimagining of several songs from their discography.
The band’s split did not last long at all, and by 2015, the group announced a reunion tour, making appearances at the Reading and Leeds Festivals, Riot Fest in Chicago and Heavy Montreal. At the time, Alexisonfire did not seem to have any concrete plans to stay together, however the group went on to play shows in the following years, and in 2019, released their first new music since 2010; the sludgy, explosive single “Familiar Drugs”. This was followed up by two more singles, “Complicit” and “Season of the Flood”, before the COVID-19 pandemic swooped in and pulled everything to a halt for a while.
A full track list for Otherness can be viewed below.
1). ‘Committed To The Con’
2). ‘Sweet Dreams Of Otherness
3). ‘Sans Soleil’
4). ‘Conditional Love’
5). Blue Spade’
6). Dark Night Of The Soul
7). ‘Mistaken Information
8). ‘Survivor’s Guilt
9). ‘Reverse The Curse
10). ‘World Stops Turning’
For any UK fans wishing to catch the band live in the coming months, Alexisonfire will be headlining Slam Dunk Festival in Leeds and Hatfield Park. Tickets can be found here.
