Austin alt-rock stalwarts …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead unveiled a new song, “Don’t Look Down,” from their first album in six years, X: The Godless Void and Other Stories, out January 17th via Dine Alone Records.
“Don’t Look Down” is a bustling rock track carried by rushing drums and fuzzy guitars that complement the song’s video, which co-frontman Conrad Keely directed, edited and produced. The clip boasts a psychedelic blend of animation and live action, and seems to jump between Austin and Cambodia, where Keely recently lived for five years.
…Trail of Dead began working on X in 2018 after Keely returned from Cambodia, and in a statement he said the new record was partly about “the sadness of moving away from a place that I loved.” Keely added the album was also inspired by Steven Pressfield’s book, The War of Art, and grapples with the intricacies of his creative process: “I feel like I’m writing pop music, it’s just not Top 20 pop,” he said. “It’s the pop music I wish was on the radio, the pop music I would’ve grown up with.”
…Trail of Dead co-founder Jason Reece added that the album also draws from artists like Talk Talk, Killing Joke and Laurie Anderson, saying, “There’s definitely the idea of loss, leaving someone or something important in your life, but it’s more abstract.”
X marks …Trail of Dead’s 10th album and follows their 2014 effort, IX. Keely produced the album alongside engineer Charles Godfrey.
…Trail of Dead also announced a short North American tour in support of X, which kicks off January 17th at the Masonic Lounge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles and wraps January 29th at Lowbrow Palace in El Paso, Texas. The shows will find Keely and Reece returning to the live format of their early years, when they alternated as drummer and frontman.
X: The Godless Void and Other Stories Tracklist
1. “The Opening Crescendo”
2. “All Who Wander”
3. “Something like This”
4. “Into the Godless Void”
5. “Don’t Look Down”
6. “Gone”
7. “Children of the Sky”
8. “Who Haunts the Haunter”
9. “Eyes of the Overworld”
10. “Gravity”
11. “Blade of Wind”
12. “Through the Sunlit Door”
…Trail of Dead Tour Dates
January 17 – Los Angeles, CA @ Masonic Lounge at Hollywood Forever
January 18 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
January 20 – Vancouver, BC @ Fox Cabaret
January 21 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
January 22 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
January 23 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst
January 24 – Fresno, CA @ Strummer’s
January 25 – Las Vegas, NV @ Bunkhouse Saloon
January 27 – Tuscon, AZ @ 191 Toole
January 29 – El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace