KATATONIA GET TO THE POINT ON NEW LP
The Swedes open their account for new label with 12th album, Sky Void Of Stars.
Swedish dark prog quintet Katatonia will release their 12th studio album, Sky Void Of Stars, on January 20.
The LP is their first with Napalm Records, and contains more concise songwriting than their previous material, according to the band.
“This new album is very straight-to-the-point,” singer and composer Jonas Renkse tells Prog. “It’s pretty upfront for us, and there are a lot of songs on this album that will go down well live. I think, subconsciously, I wrote this kind of material because of the lack of touring during Covid. I think there was a longing to get back on stage.”
However, the frontman’s quick to add that the music is “still experimental, with a lot of progressive stuff. I usually write all the drums and our drummer [Daniel Moilanen] always says, ‘When you write my parts, I know there’s going to be some hard stuff!’”
According to Renkse, the name of the album has no deeper significance than being a good title that suits what he calls “the Katatonia universe”. And his lyrics are, he says, intentionally abstract: “I don’t write exactly what I want to say; I try to write it in a way that sounds better.”
The album was announced on October 26, with lead single Atrium released simultaneously. Another song, Impermanence, features co-lead vocals from Soen frontman Joel Ekelöf. “Soen are a great band and we know those guys,” Renkse explains. “All of a sudden, this song came up. I thought, ‘This is a perfect song for Joel to be featured on.’ It felt like a natural choice and I think the result is stunning. Our voices blend together really well.”
Katatonia started writing Sky Void Of Stars shortly after the release of last album, 2020’s City Burials. With Covid wiping out all touring, the band relished the lack of deadlines and wrote slowly, with most of the recording made in Stockholm, and Moilanen’s drums laid down in Ribe, Denmark. Their first release for Napalm will be the third consecutive Katatonia album to feature the line-up of Renkse, Moilanen, guitarists Anders Nyström and Roger Öjersson, and bassist Niklas Sandin.
The band will tour Europe in January and February, co-headlining with Icelandic post-rockers Sólstafir. “You’re going to see even more emotion put into this music when we’re playing it live,” Renkse promises.
“You’re going to see even more emotion put into this music when we play it live.”
For more on the album and for European tour dates go to www.katatonia.com.