Enlarge The album was inspired by Octavia E. Butler's Parable books.

Author & Punisher Announce New Album, Krüller, Debut First Single, “Drone Carrying Dread”

  • Axl Rosenberg
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I read Octavia E. Butler’s Parable books for the first time a little over a year ago. I know I’m way late to that party (they were published in the early ’90s), but better late than never, right? And for whatever it’s worth, I’ve spent a lot of time since reading them trying to get other friends who also have not read them to check ’em out. So. I’m a Parable missionary now (I think Ms. Butler would hate that metaphor, but it’s the best I can do).

Why am I rambling about this? Because Author & Punisher — a.k.a. musician-meets-mechanical engineer Tristan Shone — has announced a new album, Krüller (the German word for “scary”), which was apparently inspired by Butler’s novels. New A&P was already good news. That it’s crossing over with one of my other pop-culture passions is just a nice cherry on top.

OH! And as cherry on top of the cherry on top, a press release promises that the album includes “a handful of guest players including Tool’s Danny Carey and Justin Chancellor.” NEAT!

Says Shone of the first single, “Drone Carrying Dread”:

“’Drone Carrying Dread’ was the first song I wrote on Krüller. I had just gotten home from the final tour of the Beastland album cycle and I spent a couple weeks updating my overall tones with a nice balance of sub, saw/synth and tube amp. This track was basically the one where it all clicked and I had these chords that resonated just right, shaking the entire warehouse. It’s a simple but raw progression that was ripe for the addition of melodic guitars, as well as synthesizer programming from myself and co-producer Jason Begin (Vytear). Lyrically, it’s about escape and survival, as the events that were unfolding in 2020 were prophesied by the books I was reading throughout the year.”

Speaking about Kr¨uller more generally, Shone adds:

 “Melody has been and is still a part of my sound. I’ve always bathed them in a lot of reverb, delay, and distortion, though. This time around, I was bothered by the wall of distortion I had created. I wanted a little more clarity. I wanted to refine the sound. I wanted to step back from my own show and analyze it a bit. I had all these competing distortions that I wanted to streamline. I like contrast and wanted the vocals to be immediately noticeable. There’s something about mixing punishing drones and rumble with a mellow thing on top that I really like on Krüller.”

You can check out “Drone Carrying Dread” via the below music video, which was directed by Monte Legaspi and features illustrations from album cover artist Zlatko Mitev.

Additionally, musicians who admire Shone’s unique methods of creation will be thrilled to learn that he’s launching a bespoke audio gear company, Drone Machines, to coincide with the release of Krüller.

Krüller will be released February 11 via Relapse. Pre-order it here.

Krüller tracklist:

  1. “Drone Carrying Dread”
  2. “Incinerator”
  3. “Centurion”
  4. “Maiden Star”
  5. “Misery”
  6. “Glorybox” (Portishead cover)
  7. “Blacksmith “
  8. “Krüller”

Upcoming Author & Punisher live dates:

February 7  Tallin, Estonia  Sveta Bar
February 8  Riga, Latvia  Melna Piektdiena
February 9  Vilnius, Lithuania  XI 20
February 12  Haarlem, Netherlands  Complexity
February 13  Antwerp, Belgium  Kavka
February 14  Brighton, UK  Patterns
February 15  London, UK  The Underworld
February 16  Leeds, UK  Brudenell Social Club
February 17  Glasgow, UK  Stereo
February 18  Newcastle, UK  Cluny
February 19  Birmingham, UK  Castle and Falcon
February 20  Bristol, UK  Fleece
February 21  Manchester, UK  Deaf Institute

w/ Perturbator and Health:

October 6  Lille, France  Aeronef
October 7  Paris, France  L’Olympia
October 12  Bordeaux, France  Krakatoa
October 13  Toulouse, France  Bikini
October 14  Madrid, Spain  La Riviera
October 15  Barcelona, Spain  Razzmatazz 2
October 16  Nantes, France  Stereolux
October 18  Lyon, France  Le Transbordeur
October 19  Strasbourg, France  La Laiterie
Oxtober 20  Lausanne, Switzerland  Les Docks
October 21  Munich, Germany  Freheiz
October 22  Vienna, Austria  Arena
October 23  Budapest, Hungary  Akvarium Nagyhall
October 25  Prague, Czech Republic  Lucerna
Music
October 26  Wroclaw, Poland  Zaklete Rewiry
October 27  Warsaw, Poland  Progresja
October 28  Berlin, Germany  Heimathafen
October 29  Goteborg, Sweden  Tradgar N
October 30  Stockholm, Sweden  Berns
November 1  Helsinki, Finland  Tavastia
November 3  Oslo, Norway  Vulkan Arena
November 4  Copenhagen, Denmark  Pumpehuset
November 5  Hamburg, Germany  Uebel & Gefahrlich
November 6  Utrecht, Netherlands  Tivoli
November 8  Cologne, Germany  Kantine
November 9  Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxermbourg  Rockhall
November 10  Brussels, Belgium  Ancienne Belgique

Author & Punisher Announce New Album, Krüller, Debut First Single, “Drone Carrying Dread”
Artwork by Zlatko Mitev
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