Photo by: William lacalmontie
Official press release:
French experimental punk / hardcore trio Birds In Row are sonically fearless. Lyrically, they’re as poetic as they are recusant. And live, they’re a ruthless force, matching the power of their music with boundless, must-see energy.
The trio have been at the forefront of their genre for a decade and this fall they return with a third and powerful full-length album, Gris Klein – their most expansive and timely declaration yet. It’s an amorphous beast of an album: always unpredictable, but never out of character for this creative collective.
Gris Klein is a portrait of a world enduring its most chaotic era in a generation. Yet throughout, the Birds In Row manifesto is the same as it’s always been: love each other. They say:
“We really want people to know that they’re not alone, and that they can count on each other.”
The album’s lyrics were sculpted over lockdown, when everything felt uncertain, and isolation and depression ran rampant. Birds In Row, fresh off a successful tour with Alcest, were suddenly unable to tour, and were no exception to the epidemic of mental health struggles.
Their new single “Nympheas”, released today, is, as the band explains:
“An ode to those who keep fighting when we don’t have the energy to anymore, or never have had it, especially when facing political issues that are increasingly more visible.”
Birds In Row’s lauded 2012 debut You, Me & the Violence released on Deathwish Inc. rocketed them from Laval-based unknowns to the world’s stage. Their exceptional 2018 follow up We Already Lost the World was an unyielding inferno of brazen ideas. It screamed for mutual respect in a world of increasingly extreme political divides, and used the vehicles of punk, post-hardcore and post-metal to carry its cries.
Their political outcries carry over to Gris Klein. The album eloquently summarizes the cruel and sometimes nonsensical nature of mental illness. “Trompe l’oeil” sings, ‘Most of the times I feel lonely are when my friends are around’. The band add:
“This is the exact moment where you should feel like you’re surrounded by people you love and that you’re not alone. It asks – ‘If I can’t feel loved in this specific moment, then when can I feel that?’”
Elsewhere, the words of “Daltonians” confront the crisis of misinformation, police brutality, as well as broader issues of immigration and governance. It’s erratic by design, darting between topics in the same way that pandemic-era news outlets cycled from panic-inducing story to panic-inducing story. Not even a world-shaking pandemic could damage Birds In Row’s compassion and brutality. Now three albums in, they remain the model portrait of punk.
Gris Klein sees its release on October 14 via Red Creek Recordings. To pre-order on physical formats go here, or pre-save on digital platforms, go here. Birds In Row are set for a full October/November European tour – North American dates to be announced. See below for their full routing and for more info go here.
Gris Klein track listing:
- “Water Wings”
- “Daltonians”
- “Confettis”
- “Noah”
- “Cathedrals”
- “Nympheas”
- “Grisaille”
- “Trompe l’oeil”
- “Rodin”
- “Winter, Yet.”
- “Secession”
9/30 Vitry-sur-Seine, FR – Festi’Val de Marne
10/01 Rouen, FR – Le 106
10/02 Esch-sur-Alzette, LU – Rockhal *
10/03 Cologne, DE – Live Music Hall *
10/04 Geneve, CH – Alhambra *
10/05 Toulouse, FR – Le Metronum *
10/06 Biarritz, FR – Atabal *
10/07 Barcelona, ES – AMFest *
10/08 Madrid, ES – But *
10/09 Porto, PT – Ampli Fest *
10/11 Nantes, FR – Stereolux *
10/12 Lille, FR – Aeronef *
10/13 Strasbourg, FR – La Laiterie *
10/14 Zwolle, NL – Hedon *
10/15 Leipzig, DE – Felsenkeller *
10/16 Wroclaw, PL – A2 *
10/17 Budapest, HU – Durer Kert *
10/18 Prague, CZ – Underdogs *
10/20 Berlin, DE – Urban Spree
10/21 Dortmund, DE – Trompete
10/22 Darmstadt, DE – Oettinger Villa
10/23 Neunkirchen, DE – Stummschen Reithalle
10/27 Bordeaux, FR – Le Krakatoa
10/28 Alençon, FR – La Luciole
11/03 Amiens, FR – La Lune des Pirates
11/04 Belfort, FR – La Poudrière
11/05 Annecy, FR – Le Brise Glace
11/09 Bruxelles, BE – Le Botanique
11/10 Haarlemn, NL – Patronaat
11/11 Leeuwarden, NL – Neushoorn
11/12 Nijmegen, NL – Merleyn
11/17 Poitiers, FR – Le Confort Moderne
11/18 Vannes, FR – L’Echonova
11/19 Quimper, FR – Novomax
11/23 Fribourg, CH – Fri-Son
11/24 Metz, FR – Les Trinitaires
11/25 Tours, FR – Le Bateau Ivre
11/26 Paris, FR – Le Trabendo
12/09 Angoulême, FR – La Nef
* = w/ Cult of Luna
