‘Voodoo’ is the latest album by enigmatic Kill Your Boyfriend, out today via Sister9 Recordings, Little Cloud Records and Shyrec.

A frantic and hypnothising bacchanalia of psych and industrial tinged soundwaves, the new album is a collection of reverb laden necromantic charms, summoning the souls and bones of the greats in the rock & roll pantheon of the 1950s. The duo delivers such glittery dark enchantment via 7 hoodoo hymns, travelling with a crumbling, ghostly and magically whizzing Rocket 88, in the company of Marie Laveau and madame Lalaurie.

<a href="https://killyourboyfriend.bandcamp.com/album/voodoo">Voodoo by Kill Your Boyfriend</a>

“‘Voodoo’ has essentially two souls”

You have scheduled a new album, ‘Voodoo’ for October, what will be different this time around in comparison to your previous releases?

First of all we have to say that we consider ‘Voodoo’ one of our best works. With this record we changed the concept that was the basis of our first three albums. So the focus is no longer the killer or the victim but a religion: ‘Voodoo’. The idea stems from the reading of Micheal Ventura’s essay “Hear That Long Snake Moan” where the author compares the live performances of great rock music artists to a sort of possession, rather than from a spirit, from the music itself. Initially we thought of recording an EP, which later became the side A of the album and had very rock’n’roll nuances, while maintaining that tension and gloom that distinguishes our previous works. Along the path of composition it came natural for us to write a side B that had more of a ritual soul and was an exact completion of the imagery that the album ‘Voodoo’ must have in our heads.

In conclusion ‘Voodoo’ presents many differences from our previous albums, as we tried to get out of our “comfort zone” to look for something new, also in ourselves.

How’s this last year under lockdown been for you? Have you found the isolation creatively challenging or freeing?

We certainly found this period depressing. The lack of live shows and contact with the public has not helped us even if this has not (and we should say fortunately) undermined our creativity. We certainly trust that the period of the lockdown is over and we can return to a sort of “normal” life.

Would you like to tell how the recording and producing process looked like?

‘Voodoo’ was born during the period of the second lockdown. We are lucky because over the years we have built a decent home studio and, albeit at a distance, we have managed to build and record the songs that would have been part of the album. Normally we exchange ideas and recordings and then work together. Most of the work, as previously mentioned, we did at home and was then completed and mixed together with Edoardo Pellizzari at Overdrive Recording Studio here near Treviso, where we live.

Tell us about the tracks that are featured on the album…

‘Voodoo’ has essentially two souls: a very rock’n’roll side A and a more psychedelic/ritualistic side B.

Since side A takes its cue from Ventura’s essay, we tried to tell the stories and emotions that arouse in us from listening to the great rock artists, now deceased, who most influenced our music, and we used their nicknames to name the songs. We narrate the probable last thoughts that one has before dying (The King), or pseudo pacts with the devil (The Man in Black), or about wandering lonely and lost in unknown places (Mr Mojo), and the sensations of an unborn child, who feels parental despair on'”The Day The Music Died’.

Side B, on the other hand, comes from our search to render our own representation of ‘Voodoo’ rite into music. As a result, two long songs were born, where we tried to retrace a ritual that should lead the listener on a long esoteric journey, among gurus and spirits, who try to bewitch you.

Let me take this opportunity to discuss your previous album as well. I really enjoyed the sound of ‘Killadelica’. Was it difficult to finish it since it was released in the middle of the pandemic?

We must say that we were lucky to finish the recording of ‘Killadelica’ shortly before the pandemic swept across the world. We had also postponed the release, trusting that after the first lockdown there were no others. Unfortunately it didn’t happen and we are a bit sorry because we would have liked to play ‘Killadelica’ around much more. Compared to many other bands that had to cancel entire tours due to the second wave of Covid, we managed to do, fortunately, a good European tour just before all the nations closed their borders again.

The project itself is more than a decade old now, how do you remember ‘S_T’ and ‘The King Is Dead’ albums?

Of course we have fond memories of all our albums but, like a lot of artists, we feel in a constant path of growth, always searching for new sounds. We do not like to fossilize on a certain genre or sound, although we believe that the “soul” of the band is unmistakable in all our works.

Are you planning to hit the road to promote the upcoming album?

Yes, as long as there are no other problems in the world that prevent us from doing so. We currently have some dates planned here in Italy, a nice UK tour between late October and November, and we are working on a European tour for early 2023.

“We tried to get out of our comfort zone”

If you could work with any other current artist who would it be?

There would be many artists with whom we would like to collaborate. One of these is certainly Craig Dyer, frontman of The Underground Youth. A great musician and person that we got to know during our last European tour. On the other hand, if we could also choose between deceased artists, we would not deny we would have liked to collaborate with Alan Vega, but now this is no longer possible.

Let’s end this interview with some of your favourite albums. Have you found something new lately you would like to recommend to our readers?

Even if they are not very recent we would like to recommend Low’s latest two albums (‘Double Negative’ and ‘Hey What’). We also like Kim Gordon’s ‘No Home Record’ very much.