Written and recorded across Arizona, Los Angeles, and on the road during last year’s Sessanta tour, the album 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,” Mitchell, who co-produced the album, notes. “We got rid of the guard rails and made the music more aggressive.”
Round adds: “Creating this album, for me, was about carving out joy as an act of necessity. Performing it live will be about manifesting connection within that joy. It’s a time of uncertainty and polarization. We create atmospheres. We tell stories. We enhance, skew, deepen, and broaden the emotional reach. We choose exploration over convention and we trust in the unexpected. Come with us.”
Album guests 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”).
Puscifer is a band of three creative confidants, namely Mat Mitchell, Carina Round, and Maynard James Keenan, who fuse music, performance, and visual art into a singular experience. Over the years, Puscifer has carved an indelible mark on the cultural landscape, releasing a series of acclaimed albums, selling out famed venues, appearing on the lineups of Coachella, Bonnaroo, and other major festivals, and even curating their own touring festival, Sessanta. They’ve provided what was essentially the soundtrack to the first season of “Yellowstone,” and their albums regularly land on the top 30 of the Billboard Top 200. They’ve made memorable appearances on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “The Late Show,” bringing their signature blend of precision, wit, and theatricality to late night television.
Puscifer has also welcomed a revolving door of collaborators, from musicians like Greg Edwards, Gunnar Olsen, and Sarah Jones to remixers including Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Phantogram, and Sir Mix-A-Lot, as well as actors Bob Odenkirk and Milla Jovovich. It’s also a universe for the (mis)adventures of original characters: Billy D, (his wife) Hildy Berger, Major Douche, and Special Agent Dick Merkin. More than a band, Puscifer is a creative ecosystem; a boundary-pushing collective where sound, story, and spectacle collide.