The Arin Sarris YouTube channel has uploaded front-row video of KITTIE‘s April 27 performance at the Sick New World festival in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Featured songs:
00:00 No Name
01:32 Spit
04:38 Vultures
07:53 Charlotte
11:48 We Are Shadows
16:00 Brackish
19:22 We Are The Lamb
Earlier in the month, KITTIE announced an exclusive run of North American headline dates. The long-awaited shows will see the band perform in five cities across the U.S. and Canada this July and August, giving fans a very special and rare chance to see the band play a full headline set that will include their recently released singles “We Are Shadows” and “Eyes Wide Open” as well as classic hits and some deep cuts not played live since the band’s early days.
In early April, KITTIE released “We Are Shadows”, a powerful follow-up to the band’s explosive comeback single “Eyes Wide Open”, which was made available in February via new label home Sumerian Records. The new track continues the group’s triumphant return offering a further look into their musical evolution after a 13-year hiatus.
“We Are Shadows” speaks to the fading certainty in a world shrouded by looming challenges and increasing division. It is both a reflection and a reckoning — a compelling narrative crafted with the band’s signature intensity and a profound lyrical depth.
“We Are Shadows” and “Eyes Wide Open” will both appear on KITTIE‘s first album in 13 years, titled “Fire” and due later in 2024 via Sumerian Records.
Morgan told Metal Hammer magazine about the musical direction of KITTIE‘s upcoming LP: “There’s a lot of variety. I think the kind of variety that you will expect from KITTIE. If you listen to the production of ‘Eyes Wide Open’, that kind of visceral, raw, but very modern sound is prevalent throughout all of the songs. The songwriting is definitely next level.”
Last November, it was revealed that KITTIE was working on a new studio LP with producer Nick Raskulinecz at Nashville’s Sienna Studios.
Raskulinecz, who moved to Nashville from Los Angeles around 16 years ago, had previously worked with such acts as RUSH, ALICE IN CHAINS, KORN, RISE AGAINST, HALESTORM, EVANESCENCE, SKID ROW and the DEFTONES.
Regarding the overwhelmingly positive response to KITTIE‘s live shows and music since the band’s return in 2022, Lander told Metal Hammer: “I just think that the world is ready for us now. A lot of the things that we were doing 25 years ago were still… I don’t want to say controversial, but they seemed so new. It definitely has a lot to do with a shift in thinking and acceptance and representation in the years since the very first time that KITTIE came out. Sometimes it just takes the world a bit of time to catch up and appreciate those things.”
KITTIE played its first concert in five years in September 2022 at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival at the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia.
Joining Morgan and her sister, drummer Mercedes Lander, in KITTIE‘s current lineup guitarist Tara McLeod and bassist Ivana “Ivy” Vujic.
Prior to Blue Ridge, KITTIE had not performed since its reunion show at London Music Hall in the band’s native London, Ontario in 2017, celebrating the group’s documentary “Kittie: Origins/Evolutions”.
Vujic joined KITTIE in 2008 and appeared on the band’s fifth studio CD, 2009’s “In The Black”. She also wrote and recorded bass for KITTIE‘s sixth album, 2011’s “I’ve Failed You”.
In January 2022, the original lineup of KITTIE — Morgan, Mercedes, Fallon Bowman (guitar) and Tanya Candler (bass) — reunited for an online chat to celebrate the 22nd anniversary of its gold-certified 2000 debut album, “Spit”.
Candler left KITTIE after the release of “Spit” in order to finish high school and was replaced by Talena Atfield.
Bowman exited KITTIE in 2001 and started her own industrial/electronic project, AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT.
After KITTIE completed the touring cycle for “I’ve Failed You” album, the band entered a long period of inactivity during which Morgan focused on a marketing job for a chain of fitness clubs while Mercedes worked in real estate and more recently at a software company. The group also began work on a career-spanning documentary, “Origins/Evolutions”, which finally saw the light of day in 2018 via Lightyear Entertainment in North America.
“I’ve Failed You” sold 3,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 178 on The Billboard 200 chart.
KITTIE will play other North American festivals this year, including Welcome To Rockville, Sonic Temple and Havoc Fest.