On October 20th, Destroyer returns with their new album ken. The full-length will be available via Merge Records. Today, Destroyer are sharing the lead-single, now available to stream via outube.

Of his 12th studio album and its enigmatic title, Destroyer’s Dan Bejar offers the following:

Sometime last year, I discovered that the original name for “The Wild Ones” (one of the great English-language ballads of the last 100 years or so) was “Ken.” I had an epiphany, I was physically struck by this information. In an attempt to hold on to this feeling, I decided to lift the original title of that song and use it for my own purposes. It’s unclear to me what that purpose is, or what the connection is. I was not thinking about Suede when making this record. I was thinking about the last few years of the Thatcher era. Those were the years when music first really came at me like a sickness, I had it bad. Maybe “The Wild Ones” speaks to that feeling, probably why Suede made no sense in America. I think “ken” also means “to know.”

ken was produced by Josh Wells of Black Mountain, who has been the drummer in Destroyer since 2012. The album was recorded in its entirety in the jam space/studio space that the group calls The Balloon Factory. However, unlike Poison Season, ken was not recorded as a “band” record, though everyone in the band does make an appearance.

Destroyer
Ken
Track Listing

1. Sky’s Grey
2. In the Morning
3. Tinseltown Swimming in Blood
4. Cover From the Sun
5. Saw You at the Hospital
6. A Light Travels Down the Catwalk
7. Rome
8. Sometimes In the World
9. Ivory Coast
10. Stay Lost
11. La Regle du Jeu

UK/EU Tour Dates
Nov 12 Hamburg, DE — Kampnagel
Nov 13 Aarhus, DK — Voxhall
Nov 14 Oslo, NO — John Dee
Nov 15 Stockholm, SE — Fasching
Nov 16 Copenhagen, DN — Vega
Nov 17 Berlin, DE — Festsaal Kreuzberg
Nov 19 Dusseldorf, DE — New Fall Festival
Nov 21 Zurich, CH — Rote Fabrik
Nov 22 Montpellier, FR — Le Rockstore
Nov 23 San Sebastian, ES — Teatro Victoria Eugenia
Nov 24 Lisbon, PR — Mexefest
Nov 25 Madrid, ES — Teatro Barcelo
Nov 26 Valencia, ES — La Rambleta
Nov 27 Barcelona, ES — Sala Bikini
Nov 29 Lille, FR — L’Aeronef
Nov 30 Brighton, UK — Patterns
Dec 01 Leeds, UK — Brudenell Social Club
Dec 03 Dublin, IE — Button Factory
Dec 05 Glasgow, UK — CCA (270)
Dec 06 Newcastle, UK — The Cluny
Dec 07 London, UK — Scala
Dec 08 Paris, FR — Petit Bain
Dec 09 Amsterdam, NE — Paradiso Noord
Dec 10 Brussels, BE — Botanique Brussels