Some of the band’s most vulnerable ballads (“Gift of Asylum,” “Hold On,” “Stunned”) have been left off albums in the past, but Steger says the second single off Garage Hymns will be a slowed-down version of the song “Shame,” which has been floating around in various forms since 2007 and remains a fan favourite at live shows.
“The vibe [of ‘Shame’] is very haunting and beautiful at the same time,” says Steger. “It took us a while to finally find the right way to present it as a full band.”
To throw somebody else in the mix via [the Rolling Stone] contest, it just completely wasn’t us,” singer Sean Van Vleet tells Spinner. “We learned that we need to just keep doing this ourselves. Freedom is the most important thing when you’re playing music these days. It’s anyone’s world right now.
Despite the hopelessness of its lyrics, Garage Hymns promises to rock louder and harder than any previous Empires efforts. Combine that with the band’s relative youth and sense of freedom and it’s not a leap to suggest the future’s bright for Empires.
if anyone needs a ticket to empires + kaiser chiefs at hob on thursday or gemini club at lincoln hall on saturday, tweet me at @ellipses, message me on here, or on fb if you have it, i am selling both for face value. they’re both ticketfast/etickets, each will be emailed to you upon payment. paypal only, please.
