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.
“We’re definitely leaning into our early influences,” Keenan shares. “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
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. “From the outset, we had discussed an element of rawness and edge, which guitar brings,” shares Mitchell, who co-produced the album. “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. “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,” she explains. “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.”
“Normal Isn’t reflects this time we are living in,” Keenan adds. “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 tracklisting:
- Thrust
- Normal Isn’t
- Bad Wolf
- Self Evident
- A Public Stoning
- The Quiet Parts
- Mantastic
- Pendulum
- ImpetuoUs
- Seven One
- The Algorithm (Sessanta Live Mix)
Normal Isn’t North American tour dates:
March 20 Las Vegas, NV The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
March 21 Phoenix, AZ Arizona Financial Theatre
March 24 Austin, TX Bass Concert Hall
March 25 Dallas, TX Music Hall at Fair Park
March 27 Nashville, TN The Pinnacle
March 28 Atlanta, GA Coca-Cola Roxy
March 31 Asheville, NC Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
April 1 Durham, NC DPAC – Durham Performing Arts Center
April 3 Bethlehem, PA Wind Creek Event Center
April 4 Boston, MA Boch Center – Wang Theatre
April 7 New York, NY Terminal 5
April 8 Hershey, PA Hershey Theatre
April 10 Mashantucket, CT Premier Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino
April 11 Atlantic City, NJ Ovation Hall at Ocean Casino Resort
April 15 Niagara Falls, ON OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino
April 16 Akron, OH Akron Civic Theatre
April 18 Detroit, MI Fox Theatre
April 19 Cincinnati, OH Taft Theatre
April 21 Louisville, KY The Louisville Palace
April 23 Indianapolis, IN Murat Theatre
April 25 Chicago, IL The Chicago Theatre
April 26 Milwaukee, WI Landmark Credit Union Live
April 28 Madison, WI The Sylvee
April 30 St. Louis, MO The Factory
May 1 Kansas City, MO The Midland Theatre
May 3 Morrison, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre
May 5 Salt Lake City, UT Maverik Center
May 8 Portland, OR Theater of the Clouds
May 9 Seattle, WA WAMU Theater
May 11 San Francisco, CA Golden Gate Theatre
May 13 San Diego, CA San Diego Civic Theatre
May 14 Los Angeles, CA The Greek Theatre
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