THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Kills have just announced that their sixth studio album, God Games, will be available Oct. 27. The international rock duo who redefined the genre for the 21st century continue to set the pace with this hypnotic, propulsive album. Across all 12 tracks on God Games, the duo of Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince plunge into new sonic territory 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 and video 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 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 out in tanning goggles, solar eclipse glasses and matching reflective suits, Mosshart and Hince move with precision, at home in the chaos of high summer heat.
God Games centers the primal call-and-response between Mosshart’s full-bodied 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 composing 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. Written beginning in 2019, the duo decamped to an old church to record the album with Academy and Grammy-winning producer Paul Epworth (Adele, Paul McCartney), who was their very first soundman in 2002.
God Games tracklist:
1. New York
2. Going to Heaven
3. LA Hex
4. Love and Tenderness
5. 103
6. My Girls My Girls
7. Wasterpiece
8. Kingdom Come
9. God Games
10. Blank
11. Bullet Sound
12. Better Days
The Kills have tallied hundreds of millions of streams across albums such as Keep On Your Mean Side [2003], No Wow [2005], Midnight Boom [2008], and Blood Pressures [2011]. Most recently, Ash & Ice [2016] spawned fan favorites, including Doing It To Death and Heart Of A Dog. 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.”
