The Cribs have today shared the video to I Don’t Know Who I Am, the latest track to be taken from their forthcoming eighth album, Night Network, which is released via Sonic Blew/[PIAS] on Friday November 13th 2020.
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 Ranaldo 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.
Additionally, the band have announced a short run of UK instore shows, the full list is as follows:
12.11.20 – Banquet Records – KINGSTON (full band set) TICKETS
14.11.20 – Action Records (show at Blitz) – Preston (acoustic set) TICKETS
15.11.20 – Crash Records (show at the Brudenell) – LEEDS (acoustic set) TICKETS
16.11.20 – Bear Tree Records (show at the Foundry) – SHEFFIELD (acoustic set) TICKETS
