ÅRABROT – new single out

Iconic Norwegian duo Årabrot, consisting of Kjetil Nernes and wife Karin Park, has revealed “Horrors of the Past,” the new single from its upcoming full-length album, Of Darkness and Light. 

Årabrot’s tenth full-length, Of Darkness and Light will be released October 13th on Pelagic Records. Of the new single, Park states: “The original out-of-tune iPhone demo was called ‘Beatles.’ The demo was made years ago. We are happy to see it still feels right.

” While the song’s glorious melody and vintage sound may evoke the Fab Five, an undercurrent of terror flows through the song, making it Årabrot’s own.

The single’s official music video is a wonderfully nightmarish, animated clip, created by Chilean designer Kartess.

Park reveals the story behind the song: “We were out driving and hit and killed a cat,” says Park. “Its fur covered the windshield. It was brutal.” Nernes adds: “I had a vision of a metaphysical journey through a storm of animal fur. I couldn’t see a thing until symbols and memories of the past suddenly emerged in front of me. I was working my way out of a nightmarish past.'”

 

With its origins going back 20 years now, Årabrot’s list of achievements is long: collaborating with fellow innovators Stephen O’Malley and Lustmord; working with such producers as Steve Albini and Billy Anderson; winning a Norwegian Grammy. Nernes also has the distinction of being diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 and making a full recovery.

With the early material traversing the roughest edges of The Birthday Party and Swans, and with inspiration taken from esoteric sources – “fin-de-siècle decadence, surrealism and even a pinch of old German philosophy to boot,” in Nernes’ words – each release has seen more and more risks taken.

 

In recent years, Årabrot’s winding path has led toward absolute rock and roll perfection. In 2021, NPR’s Lars Gotrich noted that the band was transforming “from AmRep bulldozer noise-rock into a cathedral-shaking rock-and-roll powerhouse” – and this transformation is fully realized now on the upcoming new album, Of Darkness and Light.

Of Darkness and Light bursts with infectious melodies and shines with the massive production of Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, PJ Harvey). With Johannes at the helm, Of Darkness and Light was recorded entirely at Djura Missionshus, the church in rural Sweden where Nernes and Park live and work with their two children.

Theatrical, bombastic, dancing on the line between the macabre and the comical, Of Darkness and Light is, among other things, a celebration of the hooks and swagger and almighty power of rock. The Birthday Party and Swans are still references, yes, but so are Queens of the Stone Age and Ghost. Fittingly, the album’s title references Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra, a philosophical text centered on transcending our own limitations.

 

01/11 – DK Copenhagen, Spillestedet Stengade

02/11 – DE Bremen, Zollkantine

03/11 – DE Bochum, Die Trompete

04/11 – NL Eindhoven, Stroomhuis

05/11 – BE Liege, LaZone Liège

06/11 – FR Paris, GLAZART

07/11 – UK Nottingham, The Old Cold Store, Nottingham

08/11 – UK Leeds, Lending Room

09/11 – UK Glasgow, Hug and Pint

10/11 – UK Manchester, Satans Hollow

11/11 – UK London, Boston Music Room

12/11 – FR Tourcoing, Le Grand Mix

14/11 – FR Nantes, Decadanse

15/11 – FR Nilvange,Le Gueulard Plus

16/11 – CH Yverdon-Les-Bains,L’Amalgame

17/11 – IT Bologna, Circolo DEV

18/11 – IT Rome, RCCB

19/11 – IT Milan, Legend Club

20/11 – FR Colmar, Le Grillen, Colmar

21/11 – CZ Prague, Underdogs

22/11 – PL Krakow, Klub Gwarek

23/11 – PL Poznan, Pod Minoga

24/11 – DE Leipzig, Noels Ballroom

25/11 – DE Berlin, Urban Spree