The theme of Code Orange’s new video for “Underneath” — the pummeling yet catchy title track off their upcoming LP — is total confusion.
Singer-guitarist Reba Meyers sings in a padded room. Keyboardist Eric “Shade” Balderose looks like a mad scientist. Bassist Joe Goldman is chained to a wall. The backdrop? Walls made of aluminum foil, cellophane-covered synchronized dancers and a burnt man crawling through tar.
This all unfolds as Meyers sings about how facing obstacles head on is the only way to overcome them and drummer-vocalist Jami Morgan screams about judging a generation.
What pulls it all together, though, is Meyers’ cutting melodies and the group’s balance of industrial rattle and shock-treatment guitar riffs.
“‘Underneath’ is the first piece of the puzzle that is our most subversive, intense and vicious record to date,” Morgan tells Rolling Stone. “It’s a cathartic moment in an extremely psychologically disturbing journey. This song cracks opens the door to a central theme of the record: duality of self in a noisy, overcrowded, overstimulated society. It displays a few of the tools we have at our disposal, and we felt it would jar both fans of ours and those who have never heard us. At the end of the day, that’s what we are about: disruption. down. we. go.”
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Morgan produced the album with Nick Rasculinecz (Deftones, Alice in Chains) and Will Yip, who also mixed “Underneath” with Andrew Dawson (Kanye West, Tyler, the Creator). Nine Inch Nails’ drummer, Chris Vrenna, also contributed programming to the album, which is due out March 13th. It’s available for preorder now. The record follows up Forever, which topped Rolling Stone’s list of the 20 Best Metal Albums of 2017.
The group will supplement the tour with a short run of festival appearances in the spring, including performances at each Coachella weekend. The tour dates are below the tracklist.
Underneath Tracklist
1. “(deeperthanbefore)”
2. “Swallowing the Rabbit Whole”
3. “In Fear”
4. “You and You Alone”
5. “Who I Am”
6. “Cold.Metal.Place”
7. “Sulfur Surrounding”
8. “The Easy Way”
9. “Erasure Scan”
10. “Last Ones Left”
11. “Autumn and Carbine”
12. “Back Inside the Glass”
13. “A Sliver”
14. “Underneath
Code Orange Tour Dates
April 10 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
April 17 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
May 2 – Concord, SC @ Epicenter Festival
May 10 – Daytona Beach, FL @ Welcome To Rockville
May 17 – Columbus, OH @ Sonic Temple Festival