Kasabian, one of the UK’s best and biggest bands, are back and on fire with an explosive new studio album Happenings out July 5th on Columbia Records.
Happenings is their 8th studio album and one of their best yet as lead single ‘Call’ sets the tone with its huge, popping, weaving synth riff, flavoured with backing chants and chiming grooves. ‘Call’ was the first song Serge Pizzorno wrote for the album and it sets the vibe for the delights that follow.
“This was the launchpad,” frontman Serge explains. “Quieter on the verses, loud for the chorus – it’s dance music! The first bit is where you get ready, the second bit is where we all go crazy. It’s really fun and just feels like now. When I finished the track, I felt I wanted to go to a gig by whoever was behind it. Everything for this album was informed by that way of working.”
Shot by director duo Waxxwork, the video features a phone falling out of a plane and hurtling through the sky. Shot in Albania, where aerospace laws would allow, sky-divers jumped out of a helicopter with the video playing in real time – portraying an energetic, high-powered performance of the single. Watch the video HERE.
The follow up to 2022’s #1 album The Alchemist’s Euphoria, Happenings is 10 quick, sharp, visceral doses of fresh heavy hitters, drawing inspiration from the anything-goes art performance late-1950s. Veering between the dance floor to the mosh pit, tracks over three minutes were outlawed (well nearly), and with those 10 tracks clocking up to 26 minutes (“A minute shorter than the Ramones debut”), Happenings is not only an album that never overstays its welcome, but leaves listeners craving more.
Written and initially recorded at Pizzorno’s home studio, The Sergery, before the band later decamped as Serge and Mark Ralph (Zara Larsson, Clean Bandit, Rudimental) co-produced the final sessions together,
First full song, ‘Darkest Lullaby’, is a timeless heartbreaker that makes dancing an inevitability. ’Coming Back To Me Good’ mixes sophisticated pop flourishes with a true ‘hug your mates’ chorus as it fizzes with wide-eyed hopefulness. It could well be called into service if things go well at the Euros this summer….
There’s also the kooky, soundtrack-inspired pop of ‘Italian Horror’, as well as ‘G.O.A.T.’ – an anthem to daily greatness which quickly transformed into an exhortation to Serge’s two young sons – and now the rest of us – offering them encouragement and the self-belief to face the world on their own terms. “Old friend” ‘Algorithms’ – released alone as a single last year simply because it was ready to go – brings the album to a fitting crescendo.
Once again Kasabian will make their hometown a creative focal point as they return to Leicester’s Victoria Park this summer on July 6th, which will be even better with an explosive set list that takes in their remarkable career – tickets HERE. “Thinking about where we are with phone screens, us being able to create something that people can be a part of in the real world has got to be a positive,” Serge muses. “I’ve seen it in people’s faces at the shows, that need to experience something that just snaps you out for yourself, to feel a connection. Well, that’s Happenings.”
“It’s 20 years this year since we released our debut album,” Serge concludes, “but we felt the best way this band, at this time, should celebrate that was by making a new album.”
And we’re extremely grateful for it.
Happenings – Tracklisting
1. Darkest Lullaby
2. Call
3. How Far Will You Go
4. Coming Back To Me Good
5. G.O.A.T.
6. Passengers
7. The Hell Of It
8. Italian Horror
9. Bird In A Cage
10. Algorithms
Pre-Order Happenings HERE
