The Kills’ Alison Mosshart: ‘We didn’t blink and the whole country changed’

'It's a super scary time'

The Kills‘ Alison ‘VV’ Mosshart has spoken of how disheartened she is with the political situation in the US and the wider world – but that she remains optimistic that we can overcome adversity.

The veteran duo will be headlining Margate Wonderland at Dreamland this weekend, alongside Carl Barat & The Jackals, TOY, The Duke Spirit and many more. Ahead of their show and upcoming tour, singer and guitarist Mosshart spoke to NME about her reaction to recent political events, as well as a wider swing towards the ring-wing and populism.

“At this point, it’s more of a mode of survival to find your dear things in life and hold onto them, or create them and give them to people, because we need it so badly right now,” Mosshart told NME. “It’s a super scary time. Really, I’m kind of glad I’m here for it because I feel like I can handle it and get through to the other side. I want to get to the other side, I want to see that happen, and it’s really bad. I’m a positive and hopeful person, so I’m gonna put that shit to the test.

Advertisement

Speaking of how they’d be using their worldview to shape any new music, Mosshart described is as “survival”.

“You have to, you can’t just go onto the most negative and dark places and stop working,” she said. “It’s a little bit harder to nourish positive ideas when you’re being bombarded with terrible ones, but that’s the job, and that’s the challenge, and I’m up for it. Nobody gets to quit right now at all.”

The Kills' Alison Mosshart
The Kills’ Alison Mosshart

Asked if the culture and general mood of America were really as divisive as the media would have you believe, Mosshart was assured that the population at large had the same agenda.

“Watching the news is totally crazy and it makes you grind your teeth, but everyone here, for the most part, is awesome and hates this and is incredibly against this administration,” Mosshart continued. “We didn’t blink and the whole country changed and the personalities of the people changed, that’s not how it works. In the midst of all this gross, nastiness, it’s making people re-evaluate and be nicer to each other.

“Everyone is becoming more aware of how disheartened half the country is, and I feel like it’s my fault as much as it is anyone else’s fault, that didn’t notice how divided we became. So if there’s anything to do it’s to try to understand how that happened and never let that happen again. Help people out. A lot of people need help. There’s a lot of people that don’t have very good educations here, and don’t have any money, and don’t have jobs and they count. I guess this is what we get.”

Advertisement

Mosshart added: “I’m not against the idea of thinking we can fix this – I think we can, it’s just gonna take a hot second.”

Meanwhile, the band have also covered Rihanna’s track ‘Desperado’, taken from their upcoming ‘Non-Electric EP’, ‘Echo Home’ – due for release on June 2 digitally, before a physical 10″ vinyl release.

The tracklists for the releases are below:

Echo Home 10″
A1. Echo Home
A2. Desperado
B1. Wait
B2. That Love

Echo Home Digital EP
1. Echo Home (album version)
2. Echo Home (acoustic)
3. Desperado (acoustic)
4. Wait (acoustic)
5. That Love (acoustic)

As well as performing at Liverpool Sound City, The Kills will also headline London’s O2 Shepherds Bush Empire on Tuesday 30 May.

You May Also Like

Advertisement

TRENDING

Advertisement

More Stories