Leicester-hailing rock band, Kasabian, has just announced their ninth studio album, ‘Act III’ along with releasing the second single, ‘Great Pretender.’ Set to be released on July 17th, the album comes the same month the band will play the largest headline show of their career at London’s Finsbury Park.
The band wrote in the album’s announcement on their Instagram page, “ACT III pulls from every Kasabian album we’ve made. The highs, the lows, the chaos and the beauty,” prepping fans for an all encompassing journey come July.
‘Great Pretender’ serves as the second single, with ‘Hippy Sunshine’ released last year. NME spoke with lead vocalist, Serge Pizzorno, saying he “[used] his ‘imposter syndrome’ to as a frontman to his advantage.” Pizzorno said he sees “imposter syndrome […] not as a weakness, but as a sign you’re on the edge of something real.” Going deeper he explained “the moment before you go on stage, that ‘now or never feeling’” as “an interesting place to be.” He seeks to normalize the feeling on the song, saying to NME, “On some level, even the greats, we’re all just blagging it. Everyone feels exactly the same, even the best to have ever done it.” And Pizzorno is grateful for the discomfort, acknowledging that “being out of your depth is great because playing it safe is not the one.”
Backed by this inspiration, Pizzorno said writing the song came easily: “‘Great Pretender’ was one of those mornings where the guitar was there and this song literally happened in 10 minutes. They’re few and far between but they’re amazing when they happen.” The single was teased five days ahead of the release with a video from the studio of Pizzorno playing the guitar melody.
The song features a steady anthemic guitar made for crowds to bang their heads along with. The singer said of it, “I just thought, ‘Let’s make a proper f**king guitar track for people to get together’. It’s just joy.”
Kasabian will soon set out with their new anthem on a string of summer gigs: in June they will head to the TRNSMT Festival in Glasgow, then stop by Finsbury Park on July 4th for the biggest show of their career, in early August they will play the Boardmasters Festival in Cornwall and they will close out the month at Leeds Festival on August 27th.
But before all of this, they are set to perform on Saturday Night Live UK this weekend with host Riz Ahmed. Previously, SNL UK has seen performances from both Wet Leg and Wolf Alice. The band will be the third-ever musical performers on the newly minted comedy show.
Full Tracklist for ‘Act III’
- ‘quiet on set please 1m9’
- ‘SOULMATE’
- ‘Hippie Sunshine’
- ‘SUPERPOWERS’
- ‘GREAT PRETENDER’
- ‘NOTHING BETTER THAN THIS’
- ‘mind palace 2m7’
- ‘SILVER APPLE EYES’
- ‘THE GURU AND THE CRYPTO TIME MACHINE’
- ‘npc 3m12’
- ‘GLIDE’
- ‘HYPER//RISING’
- ‘SAY YOU (CLOSER)’
