In The Studio: QUEEN KWONG Readies New Album for 2022 Feat. Members of The Cure, Swans, and More
“Carré Callaway’s tough-as-nails attitude is mixes oddly with her esoteric innocence. You wouldn’t expect the freckled-face singer to lead a ‘visceral rock’ band named Queen Kwong.” – LA WEEKLY
“Queen Kwong’s music might not be loud in the traditional sense, but it certainly packs a visceral, primal punch.” – LOUDER
IN THE STUDIO: QUEEN KWONGWrapping up the recording to the follow up to 2019’s Oh Well
Featuring Roger O’Donnell (The Cure), Kristof Hahn (Swans), Laura-Mary Carter (Blood Red Shoes) and More!
Produced by Joe Cardamone (The Icarus Line)
Mixed By Tchad Blake (Arctic Monkeys, Fiona Apple)
DECEMBER 14, 2021 (Los Angeles, CA) — “It’s not a fun record… but, at times, it’s a funny one,” admits Carré Kwong Callaway a.k.a. QUEEN KWONG about the new album she is putting the final touches on which is slated for release in Spring 2022. Signed to Los Angeles-based indie record label Sonic Ritual (home to Gypsum, Joe Cardamone, and Ultimate Fakebook), Carré has assembled a notable cadre of contributing musician friends including The Cure’s Roger O’Donnell (keyboards), Swans’ Kristof Hahn (lap steel) and Blood Red Shoes’ Laura-Mary Carter (backing vocals) who appear on assorted tracks on the upcoming LP. Producing the record is The Icarus Line’s Joe Cardamone with Tchad Blake (Arctic Monkeys, Elvis Costello, Fiona Apple) mixing it.
As with every Queen Kwong release, all music for the upcoming album was entirely improvised and recorded on the spot—nothing was pre-written lyrically or musically. A primal scream of freestyled lyrics that contain the anger, fury, frustration and sadness that was dealt to her in a quick succession of events that started with a diagnosis of cystic fibrosis in 2018, the dissolution of her marriage to Wes Borland two months later that left her exiled with nothing but a suitcase and two guitars. “I was homeless for nearly a year, just living on friends’ sofas, and I’m still in the process of rebuilding my life,” she says, “but it’s reassuring that we can survive things that feel unsurvivable.” Unleashing this pent-up energy for the album has been purgative for her.
Queen Kwong has been making music since 2005 when she was discovered by Trent Reznor who invited her to open Nine Inch Nails’ With Teeth tour (2005), and again in 2009 and 2018. She has released two albums (Get a Witness in 2015 and Love Me to Death in 2018) and two Eps (2013’s Bad Lieutenant and 2019’s Oh Well).
More details on the cathartic new album will be announced shortly.
