Photo by: Travis Shinn
Official press release:
Puscifer, the multi-dimensional band featuring Maynard James Keenan, Mat Mitchell and Carina Round releases Normal Isn’t, their first new album in over five years, on Feb. 6 via Puscifer Entertainment/Alchemy Recordings/BMG. The record channels the post-punk influences that shaped the members’ early musical experiences while pushing into darker, more guitar-driven territory. Keenan shares:
“We’re definitely leaning into our early influences. It’s the place where goth meets punk. It’s where I came from.”
The band previews the 11-song collection with the release of “Self Evident” and its accompanying video, filmed during a special August performance at Exchange L.A., where the group previewed the album in full for an intimate crowd of fans.
Written and recorded across Arizona, Los Angeles, and on the road during last year’s Sessanta Tour, Normal Isn’t blends the dark electronics and sharp humor Puscifer is known for with a more spontaneous creative process. Mitchell, who co-produced the album shares:
“From the outset, we had discussed an element of rawness and edge, which guitar brings. We got rid of the guard rails and made the music more aggressive.”
For Keenan, this release represents a new approach to songwriting. While he’s always been deeply involved in shaping Puscifer’s sound, this time he set-up his own digital recording system and built full song ideas before presenting them to Mat and Carina.
That shift gives the music fresh immediacy, one that Round says changed the dynamic in the studio. She expalins:
“Instead of just saying, ‘I want this to sound like Fleetwood Mac on cocaine if they had a baby with PJ Harvey,’ Maynard was showing us his intention, which was really cool. In Puscifer, any idea can totally change without any preciousness, and everybody is on board – not unlike an insane asylum. We found each other because we’re demented in a symbiotic way.”
Keenan adds:
“Normal Isn’t reflects this time we are living in. As storytellers and artists, our job is to observe, interpret, and report. We take in our environment and share what we see, and what we see around us does not appear normal. Not by a long shot.”
Contributors to the new collection include Greg Edwards (bass), Gunnar Olsen (drums), and Sarah Jones (drums) with guests Tony Levin (bass on “Normal Isn’t” and “Seven One”), Danny Carey (drums on “Seven One”) and Mr. Ian Ross (father of Atticus Ross, who narrates “Seven One”).
Normal Isn’t is available now for pre-order and pre-saves (https://Puscifer.lnk.to/NormalIsnt), including multiple limited-edition vinyl variants: standard black, indie retail orange swirl, a Puscifer.com exclusive black ice and clear with black splatter, and a Queen B Vinyl Café fruit punch in tan with black and white splatter. The album is also available on CD, cassette, and digitally.
Puscifer has simultaneously announced a North American tour in support of the album, kicking off on March 20 in Las Vegas and closing at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, with stops at New York’s Terminal 5 and Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado. Tickets and VIP packages are on-sale this Friday, Oct. 24, at 10 a.m. local time via Puscifer.com. A 36-hour artist pre-sale begins tomorrow at 10 a.m. local time using the code PSC26.
Normal Isn’t track listing:
- “Thrust”
- “Normal Isn’t”
- “Bad Wolf”
- “Self Evident”
- “A Public Stoning”
- “The Quiet Parts”
- “Mantastic”
- “Pendulum”
- “ImpetuoUs”
- “Seven One”
- “The Algorithm” (Sessanta Live Mix)
3/20 Las Vegas, NV – The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
3/21 Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre
3/24 Austin, TX – Bass Concert Hall
3/25 Dallas, TX – Music Hall at Fair Park
3/27 Nashville, TN – The Pinnacle
3/28 Atlanta, GA – Coca-Cola Roxy
3/31 Asheville, NC – Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
4/01 Durham, NC – DPAC – Durham Performing Arts Center
4/03 Bethlehem, PA – Wind Creek Event Center
4/04 Boston, MA – Boch Center – Wang Theatre
4/07 New York, NY – Terminal 5
4/08 Hershey, PA – Hershey Theatre
4/10 Mashantucket, CT – Premier Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino
4/11 Atlantic City, NJ – Ovation Hall at Ocean Casino Resort
4/15 Niagara Falls, ON – OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino
4/16 Akron, OH – Akron Civic Theatre
4/18 Detroit, MI – Fox Theatre
4/19 Cincinnati, OH – Taft Theatre
4/21 Louisville, KY – The Louisville Palace
4/23 Indianapolis, IN – Murat Theatre
4/25 Chicago, IL – The Chicago Theatre
4/26 Milwaukee, WI – Landmark Credit Union Live
4/28 Madison, WI – The Sylvee
4/30 St. Louis, MO – The Factory
5/01 Kansas City, MO – The Midland Theatre
5/03 Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre
5/05 Salt Lake City, UT – Maverik Center
5/08 Portland, OR – Theater of the Clouds
5/09 Seattle, WA – WAMU Theater
5/11 San Francisco, CA – Golden Gate Theatre
5/13 San Diego, CA – San Diego Civic Theatre
5/14 Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre
