The Cribs (Photo by Steve Gullick)
The Cribs recently shared new track “I Don’t Know Who I Am” and its accompanying video, taken from their forthcoming eighth album, Night Network, which will be released via Sonic Blew/[PIAS] on Nov. 13.
The track sees the band reuniting with Lee Ranaldo, ex-of Sonic Youth, who contributed spoken word verses on their much-loved 2007 track “Be Safe.” Here providing guitar, the track was recorded at Dave Grohl’s 606 Studios in Los Angeles during the album sessions, before Lee layered sheets of white-noise guitar over the recording at Sonic Youth’s Hoboken studio, and a few backing vocals for good measure.
Talking about the track, the band said:
“‘I Don’t Know Who I Am’ (although ultimately quite different) came together in much the same way as ‘Be Safe’ did back in 2006 — we had a recording of a long, improvised noise-jam which we then tried to refine into a more cohesive song structure. Due to the similarities in the writing process, it made us think of Lee again… we had initially requested that he play noise guitar over the track, because we wanted to keep it somewhat abstract and create the impression of the melodies just kind of emerging out of the static… but he went beyond the call of duty and also added some beautiful vocal harmonies too, out at the Sonic Youth studio in New Jersey.
“Working with Lee on ‘Be Safe’ was without question one of the highlights of our career as a band, and we think that ‘I Don’t Know Who I Am’ is a worthy follow up collaboration. We are very proud of how it turned out. Lyrically, the song addresses the disconnect that Ryan and myself have always had with our biological paternal lineage — and how that may have shaped our views on masculinity, gender roles, and the men we ultimately grew up to be.”
Watch the official music video for “I Don’t Know Who I Am” by The Cribs on YouTube:
The Cribs also announced UK in-store performances. The band added about these in stores:
“To celebrate the release of Night Network, we are excited to announce a run of intimate instore shows in support of independent record stores around the UK! Obviously, due to the ever-changing climate we are aware of the fact that these shows may not be able to happen during release week… but one way or another, we 100% guarantee (swear to God, brothers/sisters…) that we will make these shows happen at the earliest possible opportunity, and we will sing and dance and be happy together, whilst supporting our favourite record stores. You have our word.”