Northlane Recruit Karnivool's Ian Kenny For 'Afterimage'

03-05-2024

(Atom Splitter) Northlane have revealed their stunning new single "Afterimage" featuring Ian Kenny of Karnivool. "Afterimage" is the third piece of new music from the band's forthcoming EP, Mirror's Edge, out April 12 (Independent).

Northlane recently debuted "Afterimage" in the live realm during their huge Australian tour, which set the internet alight and left fans hanging to hear the studio version. A nod to their Node-era, Northlane have always pointed to Karnivool as one of their biggest influences; Ian Kenny's vocals sit so naturally in "Afterimage" that the song feels written just for him. It makes sense given, according to guitarist Jon Deiley, touring with Karnivool in 2013 had such a profound impact on his songwriting.

"Touring with Karnivool changed my perspective on songwriting by showing me a solid groove is more interesting than some flashy technical bit. Writing a good groove means you can exploit it in different ways while still keeping it interesting over time," says Deiley. "Karnivool influenced Northlane by showing us that songwriting and nailing every transition live is more important than jumping around. We hopped on the 'Asymmetry' tour years ago and were still riding the success of 'Singularity' when we discovered pretty quickly some fans just want to stand and enjoy you playing the music perfectly. I think that's where our unhealthy hyper-critical evaluation of our performance came from!"

A pensive song about reflecting on the past whilst looking ahead to a better future, "Afterimage" arrives after previous singles "Miasma" and "Dante" and is the final preview before Mirror's Edge arrives on April 12.
Mirror's Edge was recorded with their old friend and revered producer Will Putney in August this year. Described by Jon Deiley (songwriter/guitarist) as "the greatest hits of Northlane sounds," the EP is a nostalgic journey through all the colors on their sonic palette, with bonus shades from special guests Winston McCall (Parkway Drive) and Ian Kenny (Karnivool/Birds of Tokyo) - two of the most influential artists in Northlane's history. Their former bass player, Brendon Padjasek, also stopped by the studio to lend his scream to one of the tracks.

Penned just over a year after the release of their #1 award-winning album, Obsidian, the road to Mirror's Edge was a bumpy one. Instead of riding high from the success of the album, the simmering tension and communication breakdown between band members threatened to engulf Northlane at any moment. Northlane tackled their issues head-on at a writing retreat in Victoria's Yarra Valley, where they worked through their problems and unlocked new channels of creativity in the process that reflects through the EP. From the expansive prog of "Afterimage" to their signature bottom-heavy groove and viscous breakdown of "Kraft" and compulsive beat and electronic focus of "Dante," Mirror's Edge is full of Northlane's most vivid colours and textures.

Thematically, the EP is about looking at yourself and reflecting on the past one final time before leaving it all behind to find hope in what lies beyond the mirror's edge. With the recurring theme of acceptance binding these songs together, frontman Marcus Bridge is hopeful that Mirror's Edge will be the coda on this part of his personal life, so much of which he has shared in the last couple of Northlane releases.

"It's like looking at your reflection, looking at the past and everything I've been thinking about, or caught up within the last little while," Bridge says. "There's not much positivity in these songs, but it is about acceptance. Hopefully, by putting these songs out, I can leave that stuff behind and I can kind of find a new direction and something to be positive about on the other side of this mirror's edge."