QUEEN KWONG Shares New Single “On The Run” Featuring Roger O’Donnell
“Carré Callaway’s tough-as-nails attitude 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
“Powerful, creepy, beautiful… Callaway has often been compared to the likes of Iggy Pop or Patti Smith. That’s fair (and flattering), but if she keeps building and changing, Callaway’s music will allow no comparisons.” – BUST
“Singing through a stinging lyrical letter… ‘I Know Who You Are’ borders the delirium and darkness of divorce and finding a way out.” – Flaunt
“The first single, ‘I Know Who You Are’ is an absolute shiver-inducing stunner, with its haunted, slow-build introduction, jarringly jagged grooves, and thundering, industrial-punk sonics.” – BlackBook
“Industrial sounding with potent lyrics and ethereal vocals, ”I Know Who You Are” melts into your brain like a liquid hot metal swirling around and hissing until finally cooled.” – Grimy Goods
QUEEN KWONG
Shares New Single
“On The Run“
Featuring Roger O’Donnell (The Cure)
Couples Only Out July 12th via Sonic Ritual
APRIL 12, 2022 (Los Angeles, CA) — Today, LA-based Queen Kwong, a.k.a. Carré Kwong Callaway shares “On The Run” from her forthcoming album Couples Only, to be released July 12th via Sonic Ritual. The second single to be lifted from the record, “On The Run” features keys and synths by close friend of Carré, Roger O’Donnell (The Cure).
Speaking of the track, Carré says: “’On the Run’ is the song that inspired the record’s title, Couples Only. It’s a romantic, slow-dance-sounding song, but if you listen carefully, the lyrics are more realistic and self-aware. I spent a lot of my life confusing dramatic, whirlwind, fleeting romance with true love, but they’re not the same thing. Mature, healthy, loving relationships can be quite boring, and even though that’s what I want, it’s also what I’ve always run from.”
LISTEN/SHARE “On The Run”: https://lnk.to/QKOnTheRun
Pre-save Couples Only: https://lnk.to/CouplesOnly
A few years ago, Carré was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis and told she may only have a decade left to live. As a result of the condition, she’s prone to episodes where her lungs fill up with blood and she’s literally drowning. If that wasn’t bad enough, two months after her diagnosis, her husband jumped ship.
photo credit: Laura-Mary Carter
Couples Only could be described as a divorce record, but really it’s much more than that. Carré’s third album is a fearless account of facing the worst betrayals and accepting the deepest losses; it’s the realization of one’s mortality and the impermanence of everything we know and cherish.
Assembling 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, Carré worked closely with friends and allies, including Joe Cardamone of The Icarus Line, and Tchad Blake (Arctic Monkeys, Elvis Costello, Fiona Apple), who mixed the record.
Couples Only was entirely improvised and recorded on the spot—nothing was pre-written lyrically or musically. For three weeks, Carré and longtime producer Cardamone crafted about one song a day, which would eventually be whittled down to the final 11 songs.
Interestingly, Carré hadn’t picked up an instrument for nearly a year before going into the studio. Instead, she was filling her time with other projects—after graduating from university with honors, she founded an all-natural skincare line, co-starred in American Primitive film series Quarentina, launched the immensely entertaining music podcast Never Meet Your Idols, and is nearly finished with her first collection of sculptural artwork scheduled to show next year.
“I don’t play music because it’s fun,” she explains. “It’s a coping mechanism. It’s for survival. I have to keep playing music because it’s my way of allowing myself to feel.”
Tracklist
I Know Who You Are
EMDR ATM
Sad Man
Death In Reverse
The Mourning Song
No Rules
Stanley (RIP)
On The Run
Biggest Mistake
Giver Taker Faker
Without You, Whatever
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).
Needless to say, Couples Only is Carré setting the record straight, and across these 11 songs, she takes no prisoners.
Couples Only will be released on July 12, 2022 via Sonic Ritual.
