Author & Punisher Announce New Album, Krüller, Debut First Single, “Drone Carrying Dread”
I read Octavia E. Butler’s Parable books for the first time a little over a year ago. I know I’m way late to that party (they were published in the early ’90s), but better late than never, right? And for whatever it’s worth, I’ve spent a lot of time since reading them trying to get other friends who also have not read them to check ’em out. So. I’m a Parable missionary now (I think Ms. Butler would hate that metaphor, but it’s the best I can do).
Why am I rambling about this? Because Author & Punisher — a.k.a. musician-meets-mechanical engineer Tristan Shone — has announced a new album, Krüller (the German word for “scary”), which was apparently inspired by Butler’s novels. New A&P was already good news. That it’s crossing over with one of my other pop-culture passions is just a nice cherry on top.
OH! And as cherry on top of the cherry on top, a press release promises that the album includes “a handful of guest players including Tool’s Danny Carey and Justin Chancellor.” NEAT!
Says Shone of the first single, “Drone Carrying Dread”:
“’Drone Carrying Dread’ was the first song I wrote on Krüller. I had just gotten home from the final tour of the Beastland album cycle and I spent a couple weeks updating my overall tones with a nice balance of sub, saw/synth and tube amp. This track was basically the one where it all clicked and I had these chords that resonated just right, shaking the entire warehouse. It’s a simple but raw progression that was ripe for the addition of melodic guitars, as well as synthesizer programming from myself and co-producer Jason Begin (Vytear). Lyrically, it’s about escape and survival, as the events that were unfolding in 2020 were prophesied by the books I was reading throughout the year.”
Speaking about Kr¨uller more generally, Shone adds:
“Melody has been and is still a part of my sound. I’ve always bathed them in a lot of reverb, delay, and distortion, though. This time around, I was bothered by the wall of distortion I had created. I wanted a little more clarity. I wanted to refine the sound. I wanted to step back from my own show and analyze it a bit. I had all these competing distortions that I wanted to streamline. I like contrast and wanted the vocals to be immediately noticeable. There’s something about mixing punishing drones and rumble with a mellow thing on top that I really like on Krüller.”
You can check out “Drone Carrying Dread” via the below music video, which was directed by Monte Legaspi and features illustrations from album cover artist Zlatko Mitev.
Additionally, musicians who admire Shone’s unique methods of creation will be thrilled to learn that he’s launching a bespoke audio gear company, Drone Machines, to coincide with the release of Krüller.
Krüller will be released February 11 via Relapse. Pre-order it here.
Krüller tracklist:
- “Drone Carrying Dread”
- “Incinerator”
- “Centurion”
- “Maiden Star”
- “Misery”
- “Glorybox” (Portishead cover)
- “Blacksmith “
- “Krüller”
Upcoming Author & Punisher live dates:
February 7 Tallin, Estonia Sveta Bar
February 8 Riga, Latvia Melna Piektdiena
February 9 Vilnius, Lithuania XI 20
February 12 Haarlem, Netherlands Complexity
February 13 Antwerp, Belgium Kavka
February 14 Brighton, UK Patterns
February 15 London, UK The Underworld
February 16 Leeds, UK Brudenell Social Club
February 17 Glasgow, UK Stereo
February 18 Newcastle, UK Cluny
February 19 Birmingham, UK Castle and Falcon
February 20 Bristol, UK Fleece
February 21 Manchester, UK Deaf Institute
w/ Perturbator and Health:
October 6 Lille, France Aeronef
October 7 Paris, France L’Olympia
October 12 Bordeaux, France Krakatoa
October 13 Toulouse, France Bikini
October 14 Madrid, Spain La Riviera
October 15 Barcelona, Spain Razzmatazz 2
October 16 Nantes, France Stereolux
October 18 Lyon, France Le Transbordeur
October 19 Strasbourg, France La Laiterie
Oxtober 20 Lausanne, Switzerland Les Docks
October 21 Munich, Germany Freheiz
October 22 Vienna, Austria Arena
October 23 Budapest, Hungary Akvarium Nagyhall
October 25 Prague, Czech Republic Lucerna
Music
October 26 Wroclaw, Poland Zaklete Rewiry
October 27 Warsaw, Poland Progresja
October 28 Berlin, Germany Heimathafen
October 29 Goteborg, Sweden Tradgar N
October 30 Stockholm, Sweden Berns
November 1 Helsinki, Finland Tavastia
November 3 Oslo, Norway Vulkan Arena
November 4 Copenhagen, Denmark Pumpehuset
November 5 Hamburg, Germany Uebel & Gefahrlich
November 6 Utrecht, Netherlands Tivoli
November 8 Cologne, Germany Kantine
November 9 Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxermbourg Rockhall
November 10 Brussels, Belgium Ancienne Belgique
