Kasabian return with new track ‘Scriptvre’ and announce seventh album

As Kasabian return with new track ‘Scriptvre’ and announce details of their seventh album, frontman Serge Pizzorno has revealed how the band were determined to forge a new chapter following the controversial departure of singer Tom Meighan.

Ex-singer Meighan left the band in July 2020, just 24 hours before he pleaded guilty to assaulting his fiancée Vikki Ager at their Leicestershire home. At the time, the band said they could “no longer work with him”, while Meighan was sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work. 

But two years later, Pizzorno has now taken over as the band’s primary singer on their seventh album ‘The Alchemist’s Euphoria’, which arrives on August 5.

Opening up on the record, the singer explained how it partly came from a desire for Meighan’s darkened departure not to be seen as the band’s final chapter.

“The big thing is that we didn’t want the story to end like that. For all we’d done and where we’d been, it would have been an awful way for it to end,” he said.

‘Scriptvre’, which follows last year’s release ‘ALYGATYR‘, sees the band mixing up their sound as pounding guitars suddenly make way for a soulful breakdown halfway through the track.

Describing the two sides of the song, Pizzorno explained how it fed into his feelings about lessened attention spans across the world.

“With attention spans and the world being what is, I was really interested in making these expansive and really interesting sonic tracks, but instead of being fifteen minutes long, condensing that into four minutes. There’s an expansive mental trip, but it’s over pretty quickly,” he told Rolling Stone UK.

“There’s something about the way we listen to music now, I was just on that vibe of using that as a template. I wanted SCRIPTVRE to have an empowered start where it feels like the start of a dystopian gameshow like Battle Royale, but suddenly it cuts to a euphoric hands-in-the-air breakdown and although you get an aggressive start it takes you on a sideways trip into this soulful euphoria which is really unique.”

He added: “The sentiment behind it is like rewriting your own story. In our heads we have a construction of who we think we are, but it’s turning that on its head. You wake up and suddenly decide to go against all the things you think you are.”

Returning to the album, Pizzorno explained how the band also wished to continue “a life’s work” on their seventh record.

“We sat down and realised this is what we do. This is my life’s work as well and every tune is ingrained in my soul and heart. Chris [Edwards, bassist] and Ian [Matthews, drummer] too, they didn’t *not *want to do it anymore.

“It’s as simple as that. The vision is the same as it’s always been, so we just went out, made an amazing record and now we just want to play our tunes.”

As for the rest of the record, Pizzorno hailed it as their most “cohesive” effort to date.

“It’s a deeply personal record with an epic-ness to it, which is a great contrast. I just love the idea of things changing in a song, we’ve really gone deep into that area and it’s the most cohesive record we’ve made,” he said.

“It feels like it explores that journey we all face too, you’re sitting on the shore and there’s that fork in the road moment in everyone’s life when you wonder which direction you’ll go.”

Kasabian’s ‘The Alchemist’s Euphoria’ arrives on August 5.