WOLVES, the new album from Rise Against, will be released on June 9 via EMI Australia. Today, the band unveiled the first single, “The Violence”, which can be purchased HERE.
The pre-order for WOLVES begins today – PRE-ORDER HERE. Fans who pre-order the digital album will instantly receive “The Violence.” See below for the full track listing.
Rise Against is partnering with Vans to give fans a preview of WOLVES with performances at The House of Vans in Chicago (April 21) and Brooklyn (April 24). The band will also play the Troubadour in West Hollywood, CA on April 26.
Throughout its career, Rise Against has kept its moral compass steady, using its international punk platform to speak out for social justice. With WOLVES, the band challenges fans to join them in creating a bold new identity together. The album is about recognizing the power within; it’s a primal call for the prey to become the hunters
“In many ways, a Rise Against show is a safe space for our fans,” lead singer Tim McIlrath says. “But I realized that I don’t only want to create safe spaces, I want to create dangerous spaces where misogyny can’t exist, where xenophobia can’t exist. I want to create spaces where those sentiments don’t have any air, and they suffocate: where those ideas die. WOLVES isn’t about creating a safe space, it’s about creating a space that’s dangerous for injustice.”
“It never troubles the wolf how many the sheep may be.” -Virgil
WOLVES.
I think of WOLVES as an identity. An identity that, in the wake the current political climate, people are starting to find organically. Many of the places Rise Against plays around the world have seen gradual changes in the political climates. We have watched people slowly give intolerance, misguided fear, and eventually, hate a seat at the table.
Those of us who oppose and resist this rising tide of dangerous rhetoric are often characterized as complainers, crybabies, sore losers or ’snowflakes.’ These convenient and dismissive tags might be comforting for those who use them. But the reality is different. They may have the throne, but we are the wolves at the gate.
Our ideas have teeth. Our vision has claws. Our appetite for change is voracious. Our prey is outnumbered and we’re circling in for the kill.
So the music on this record is the soundtrack to this new hunt that we find ourselves on. Some of us are new to these ideas, some of us have been preparing for this fight our whole lives. Further, the issues are global, so this record isn’t just about our home and what is happening here. What is happening here in our country has either already happened in its own way in other places, or is in danger of happening elsewhere.
Like all Rise Against records, there are also songs on here that tackle not just the political, but the personal. Ideally, our songs aim to be as complex as our fans are.
So as we march unapologetically into 2017, we assume these new identities with our fan base and wear them like armor into the fight: We are the WOLVES.
