Decker recently sat down with Morgan Lander of Kittie to talk about the band’s new music, how they reunited, and the changes they’ve had to make reentering the music industry after being out of it for a number of years.
First, they touched on the band’s new track “We Are Shadows,” which Morgan described as “a song about sort of losing control of the things that are happening in the world and just being resigned to the fact that things are heading in a direction we may not be able to control.”
The band’s first album in 13 years, Fire, comes out tomorrow, June 21st. When asked what led the band to get back into the studio, Morgan explained that everything has “fallen into place in a way that is very unexpected and admittedly very ‘un-Kittie’.” It all started with festival offers like the When We Were Young Festival in Las Vegas and the Blue Ridge Rock Festival. She explained that Ash Avildsen from Sumerian Records saw their performance and was “super impressed,” saying, “I’d love to put out a Kittie album.”
Morgan called this interaction a “reawakening of the band. Redemption a little bit in a way.”
This sense of redemption comes from past challenges Kittie has faced. “There were… a series of, sort of, unfortunate events that… didn’t really allow us to sort of live up to… the expectation that we had of the band,” she explained. “It’s nice to be able to sort of redeem and come back from sort of the brink, and feel like we have the second chance that we always sort of wish that we had.”
Morgan discussed the many styles that are present on the album saying, “I think we were really just sort of writing from the heart. You know, if there, if there’s anyone out there that has followed Kittie’s career, you know, beyond the first one or two albums, you’ll hear echoes of a lot of those styles. You know, we evolved a lot as players and as musicians and songwriters, and I think the variety that is sort of presented on this new album is really just sort of like a reflection of all the things that we have been.”
Morgan also revealed that the opening riff for “Eyes Wide Open” was one of the first written for the album. “It was one that would get stuck in my head a lot and other people’s heads a lot… so that was a small indicator of, like, ‘Maybe we’re onto something here’.”
She also praised Sumerian Records for their support and involvement with Kittie. “You know, we’ve released four singles. That’s more than any other album that we’ve ever done before, you know what I mean. And this is our seventh album, um, and so to me, it just really shows that like they’re very invested in making sure that, you know, the public is staying engaged and interested in, in the music.”
When asked what song she’s most excited for fans to hear, she chose the title track and opening song on the album, “Fire,” saying it’s “going to really knock some socks off,” and, “I think it will satisfy the Kittie fans right away.”
In regards to future performances and whether or not Kittie will be coming to the states any time soon she said, “Yeah, we would love to, to make sure that we try to cover as much ground as possible… we are not going to make this full-time anymore… we’re old now it just hurts too much. But, yes, absolutely. I think it’s in the works to definitely do more stuff. These headlining shows that we have coming up are sort of just like a little test-run… the wheels are already turning for… more stuff next year.”
Kittie | Fire Tracklist
Fire
I Still Wear This Crown
Falter
Vultures
We Are Shadows
Wound
One Foot In The Grave
Are You Entertained?
Grime
Eyes Wide Open
