Knocked Loose take it to a whole other level on their wild new single “Suffocate”. Bludgeoning blastbeats and chaotic fury are matched with a dance-y, syncopated groove with the most concussive reggaeton rhythm you’ve ever heard. The catalyst -- Grammy nominated pop-meets-metal trailblazer, Poppy, who reached out to frontman and vocalist Bryan Garris to propose a team-up. “I am a huge fan of Knocked Loose and honored to be on this one” tells Poppy.
The collaboration inspired the band to venture into uncharted realms, which finds Garris and Poppy trading verses about, as Garris puts it, “someone stabbing you in the back.” “It was so fun because her voice allowed us to expand our palette and do some weird, off-the-wall things that we maybe wouldn't do in another song,” guitarist Isaac Hale says of the track. “We felt that because we had Poppy’s voice involved, it allowed us to kind of push the boundaries of what we thought was feasible.”
On "You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To", Knocked Loose have honed in on a diverse, cohesive and savagely aggressive album that sums up the massive strides they’ve taken during their decade as a band, and asserts their boundless potential going forward. Internally, there was the need to challenge themselves as songwriters while retaining the merciless intensity and unflinching honesty that have always been their calling cards. Externally, there was a whole new set of eyes on the hard-touring Louisville quintet, following a banner year on the road, during which they’d brought their underground-seasoned sound to some of the world’s biggest stages.
The album plunges listeners into a cauldron of mental and spiritual anguish. But "You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To"’s title contains a note of reassurance amid the turmoil. The phrase originates from an experience that Garris, who suffers from what he calls a “borderline phobia of flying,” had during a particularly trying flight. As he battled his nerves during takeoff, the vocalist found himself talking to a woman seated next to him. When he confided in her about his anxiety, she assured, “You won’t go before you’re supposed to.”
But glossing over negative emotions isn’t what Knocked Loose are about. The new songs find them plumbing through new depths of loathing — directed both inward and outward. Across 10 tracks and 27 gripping minutes, "You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To" leans into Knocked Loose’s most extreme impulses, from blastbeat-driven fury, chaotic turbulence and seismic breakdowns, while seasoning the mix with ear-catching auxiliary percussion, evocative samples and shout-along hooks, all interwoven to perfection by Grammy-nominated, pop-savy producer Drew “WZRD BLD” Fulk.
"You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To" is filled with boundary-pushing textures and samples the band has collected over the years. “On this album, we go the fastest we've ever gone; we go the scariest we've ever gone. We also go the catchiest and the most melodic that we've ever gone, and that's the point,” guitarist Isaac Hale says. “Instead of branching off into a specific direction, we want to encompass ALL directions.”
There’s no ceiling for hardcore in 2024 — even an outfit as uncompromising as Knocked Loose can turn up in mainstream-adjacent spaces and win over new fans (see 2023’s viral Coachella and Bonnaroo sets). But there’s a center to what they do that will never change: uncompromising heaviness, both sonically and thematically. What is evolving is their drive to find new ways to convey that heaviness, and add tasteful variety that only highlights their undiminished ferocity. Everywhere Knocked Loose have been is here on this record — but so is everywhere they may yet go.
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