KEN mode’s new single “Throw Your Phone in the River” is now streaming on all platforms. The track appears on the band’s eighth full-length album, NULL, out September 23rd on Artoffact Records.
With an ironclad rhythm section churning beneath frontman Jesse Matthewson’s unhinged vocals, “Throw Your Phone in the River” is the fourth single to be released from upcoming new album NULL. The song is a searing new slice of the band’s metallic hardcore, by way of noise rock.
The video, directed by Christopher Mills and Tyler Funk, captures the white-knuckle intensity of the band’s live assault, then shrouds it in layers of VHS-style glitches.
Matthewson, who has stated that the new album was born from the isolation and alienation of the COVID-19 pandemic, describes the origins of “Throw Your Phone in the River”: “‘I can’t help you if I can’t even help myself. I’m drowning in this cyclical mess, and it just won’t finish me off.’ This is pretty much the sentiment of this one. I wrote it in about an hour one afternoon in the thick of the worst part of 2020. Just banged it all out. It felt perfect in its simplicity.”
Recorded and mixed by Andrew Schneider (Cave In, Unsane), NULL is the first KEN mode release to feature collaborator Kathryn Kerr (saxophone, synth, piano, percussion, backing vocals) as a full-fledged member of the band.
Founded by Matthewson and his brother Shane, KEN mode has come to define intensity and dedication, via tours with Russian Circles, Torche, and Full of Hell, and releases produced by the likes of Steve Albini, Kurt Ballou, and Matt Bayles. New album NULL sees this warhorse of a band emerge from the darkest of times with new energy, evolved and ready to carry on into its next chapter.
The band embarks on a US tour in October, with support from Frail Body (Deathwish Inc).
Oct 20 – St Paul, MN @ Turf Club
Oct 21 – Davenport, IA @ Raccoon Motel
Oct 22 – Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen
Oct 23 – Indianapolis, IN @ Black Circle Brewing Co.
Oct 24 – Columbus, OH @ Big Room Bar
Oct 25 – Nashville, TN @ DRKMTTR
Oct 26 – Little Rock, AR @ Vino’s
Oct 27 – Oklahoma City, OK @ 89th Street
Oct 28 – Austin, TX @ The Lost Well
Oct 29 – Houston, TX @ Black Magic
Oct 30 – Denton, TX @ No Coast Fest
Oct 31 – New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa
Nov 2 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
Nov 3 – Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor
Nov 4 – Philadelphia, PA @ Silk City
Nov 5 – Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus
Nov 6 – Cambridge, MA @ Middle East
Nov 7 – Montreal, QC @ Turbo Haus
Nov 8 – Toronto, ON @ The Baby G
Nov 9 – Detroit, MI @ Sanctuary
Nov 10 – Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club
Nov 12 – Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium
