Kitchen Dwellers face their demons on the latest track from their upcoming album Seven Devils entitled “Pendulum (V)”. The Montana alt-Americanagrass outfit’s studio album inspired by Dante Alighieri‘s The Divine Comedy “Inferno” is out on March 1st, 2024 via No Coincidence Records.
Seven of the 12 tracks on Seven Devils correspond to the Seven Deadly Sins (pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth) with “Pendulum (V)” addressing the fifth, gluttony. Banjoist Torrin Daniel‘s rhythmic picking powers the song as bassist Joe Funk sings, “It ain’t easy being sober in this life that we’ve chose / Vices swing like diamonds on a pendulum.” “Pendulum” is built for the live setting with a worked-in clap breakdown, the kind of inside reference that endears jam fans and intrigues outsiders. Funk’s introspective lyrics are the main attraction, accented with a blissful guitar rundown lick and sent off with an electric Max Davies guitar solo.
“The groundwork for ‘Pendulum’ came from observations within and around me of the concept of addiction replacement and my own interest in how dopamine and other hormones influence compulsion and decision-making in daily life,” Funk said. “I’ve long had a theory that everyone has a baseline addictive tendency that must be satisfied, and it is up to the mind to decide at which point on the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ spectrum that habit is chosen.”
Related: Kitchen Dwellers Announce 2024 ‘L.F.G. Tour’
Seven Devils mirrors Dante’s voyage through the Nine Circles of Hell, inviting listeners to journey inward on the musical descent. In addition to the Seven Deadly Sins, Kitchen Dwellers pose self-examinations of good versus evil, inspired by the 14th-century epic poem and fueled by centuries of bluegrass traditions.
“Every one of these songs has an element of human emotion and experience for different reasons,” Davies said in a trailer for the album. Mandolinist Shawn Swain added, “And these themes are not overtly Christian or demonic or Pagan for that matter. These are just themes that have occurred throughout human spirituality and throughout all time.”
Listen to Kitchen Dwellers’ new single “Pendulum (V)” below or on your preferred streaming platform. Seven Devils is available here for pre-order. Kitchen Dwellers will finish out the year with a three-night New Year’s Eve run in Missoula, MT before kicking off their 2024 L.F.G. Tour with a five-show run through Colorado in January. For tickets and a full list of tour dates visit their website.
Kitchen Dwellers – “Pendulum (V)”
Kitchen Dwellers – “Pendulum (V)” – Behind The Scenes