Observing Dead Air
Katatonia’s 2020 might not have gone to plan but the Swedes have still managed to find some stability despite all the uncertainty. Their latest release, Dead Air, was recorded live in a controlled environment and, as frontman Jonas Renkse explains, it’s left them with an itch for touring again.
Words: Hannah May Kilroy Images: Ester Segarra
T his should have been a big year for Katatonia. The Swedish masters of dark prog were raring to go again after a short hiatus that ran from late 2017 to early 2019. At the start of this year, they were gearing up to release their 11th album, City Burials, due in April.
“When we had the break from the band in 2018, I didn’t miss it too much,” says Katatonia frontman Jonas Renkse of the hiatus, taken primarily so they could take a breather from their heavy touring schedule. The irony of this in the wake of Covid-19 restrictions isn’t lost on him. “Now we have this enforced hiatus, which is definitely not as fun. I would give anything to go on tour now!”
The band’s label, Peaceville, asked if they wanted to push back the album release, as many other bands were choosing to do. They decided against it. “We knew the situation would be the same a few months later,” says Renkse. “Also a lot of people had pre-orders, they were expecting the album on a certain date, and we didn’t want to mess with that.”