Puscifer, the multi-dimensional band featuring Maynard James Keenan, Mat Mitchell and Carina Round releases "Normal Isn’t", their first new album in over five years, on Feb. 6 via Puscifer Entertainment/Alchemy Recordings/BMG. The record channels the post-punk influences that shaped the members’ early musical experiences while pushing into darker, more guitar-driven territory.
“We’re definitely leaning into our early influences” Keenan shares. “It’s the place where goth meets punk. It’s where I came from”.
Written and recorded across Arizona, Los Angeles, and on the road during last year’s Sessanta tour, "Normal Isn’t" blends the dark electronics and sharp humor Puscifer is known for with a more spontaneous creative process. “From the outset, we had discussed an element of rawness and edge, which guitar brings” shares Mitchell, who co-produced the album. “We got rid of the guard rails and made the music more aggressive”.
For Keenan, this release represents a new approach to songwriting. While he’s always been deeply involved in shaping Puscifer’s sound, this time he set-up his own digital recording system and built full song ideas before presenting them to Mat and Carina.
That shift gives the music fresh immediacy, one that Round says changed the dynamic in the studio. “Instead of just saying, ‘I want this to sound like Fleetwood Mac on cocaine if they had a baby with PJ Harvey,’ Maynard was showing us his intention, which was really cool” she explains. “In Puscifer, any idea can totally change without any preciousness, and everybody is on board – not unlike an insane asylum. We found each other because we’re demented in a symbiotic way”.
“Normal Isn’t reflects this time we are living in” Keenan adds. “As storytellers and artists, our job is to observe, interpret, and report. We take in our environment and share what we see, and what we see around us does not appear normal. Not by a long shot”.
Contributors to the new collection include Greg Edwards (bass), Gunnar Olsen (drums), and Sarah Jones (drums) with guests Tony Levin (bass on “Normal Isn’t” and “Seven One”), Danny Carey (drums on “Seven One”) and Mr. Ian Ross (father of Atticus Ross, who narrates “Seven One”).
"Normal Isn’t" is available now for pre-order and pre-saves (HERE), including multiple limited-edition vinyl variants: standard black, indie retail orange swirl, a Puscifer.com exclusive black ice and clear with black splatter, and a Queen B Vinyl Café fruit punch in tan with black and white splatter. The album is also available on CD, cassette, and digitally.
Puscifer is a band of three creative confidants, namely Mat Mitchell, Carina Round, and Maynard James Keenan, who fuse music, performance, and visual art into a singular experience. Over the years, Puscifer has carved an indelible mark on the cultural landscape, releasing a series of acclaimed albums, selling out famed venues, appearing on the lineups of Coachella, Bonnaroo, and other major festivals, and even curating their own touring festival, Sessanta. They’ve provided what was essentially the soundtrack to the first season of “Yellowstone”, and their albums regularly land on the top 30 of the Billboard Top 200. They’ve made memorable appearances on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and the “The Late Show”, bringing their signature blend of precision, wit, and theatricality to late night television.
Puscifer has also welcomed a revolving door of collaborators, from musicians like Greg Edwards, Gunnar Olsen, and Sarah Jones to remixers including Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Phantogram, and Sir Mix-A-Lot, as well as actors Bob Odenkirk and Milla Jovovich. It’s also a universe for the (mis)adventures of original characters: Billy D, (his wife) Hildy Berger, Major Douche, and Special Agent Dick Merkin. More than a band, Puscifer is a creative ecosystem; a boundary-pushing collective where sound, story, and spectacle collide.