Today, The Kills announce their sixth studio album, God Games, available 27th October via Domino. Across the 12 tracks of God Games, the duo of Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince plunge into new sonic territory with this hypnotic, propulsive album while maintaining the band’s signature, seductive bravado.
Following last month’s critically acclaimed dual single “New York/LA Hex,” the album’s announcement is accompanied by single “103.” Where “LA Hex” focused its gaze on the emotional and interpersonal realities of modern life in Los Angeles, “103” (as in Fahrenheit) highlights the brutal reality of daunting uninhabitability through the lens of a dark twisted love song – Mosshart croons cutting lyrics like “stick with me under the last palm tree / and sip a little water from the dirty fountain meant to be / the sum of it all.”
Shot in storied rock/fashion photographer and metaverse pioneer Steven Sebring’s custom-built 3D film studio, the video for “103” sees The Kills underneath the glare of an angry, imposing sun. Decked
God Games centres the primal call-and-response between Mosshart’s full body vocal catharsis and Hince’s swaggering, guillotine-smooth guitar transmissions. Stretching the boundaries of the pair’s signature sound, they chose to write from new perspectives. The results find the duo writing primarily on piano for the first time, incorporating innovative electronic and brass textures, crystal clear production and deeply human lyrics, as well as a collaboration with the Compton Kidz Club Choir on “LA Hex” and “My Girls My Girls.” Writing began in 2019, the duo decamping to an old church to record the album with Academy® and GRAMMY® Award-winning producer Paul Epworth [Adele, Paul McCartney], who was their very first soundman in 2002.
The Kills also announce today what will be a truly special Halloween show at PRYZM in Kingston, London. Details of this Banquet Records outstore performance are available here.
God Games tracklist:
- New York
- Going to Heaven
- LA Hex
- Love and Tenderness
- 103
- My Girls My Girls
- Wasterpiece
- Kingdom Come
- God Games
- Blank
- Bullet Sound
- Better Days
The Kills have tallied hundreds of millions of streams across albums such as Keep On Your Mean Side [2003], Now Wow [2005], Midnight Boom [2008], and Blood Pressures [2011]. Most recently, Ash & Ice [2016] spawned fan favourites, including “Doing It To Death” and “Heart of a Dog.” Inciting critical applause, Pitchfork hailed the latter as “an ambitious record that encompasses everything they’ve done before”, NME described it as a ‘career highlight’ in their 4 star review. Following the praise of Ash & Ice, the band ventured back in time, taking a deep dive into their b-sides and rarities with Little Bastards [2020], a compilation album featuring a previously unreleased demo entitled “Raise Me.” All the while, The Kills hammered away at reissuing their renowned record, No Wow (The Tchad Blake Mixes) [2022], featuring remastered and reimagined mixes of the pivotal album. In 2023, they turn their focus ahead. They’re the rare force of nature whose music leaves any onlooker awestruck, and God Games promises to further etch the marks they’ve made on bending genres and pushing musical boundaries.
