Fire (Kittie album)

Fire is the seventh studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Kittie, released on June 21, 2024, through Sumerian Records. It is the band's first album in almost 13 years following the release of I've Failed You (2011), in between which time they were largely on an indefinite hiatus due to rising costs associated with touring and making music, a lack of public interest, and the death of bassist Trish Doan in 2017. After receiving several offers to play shows in late 2021, Kittie ended their hiatus in January 2022, with bassist Ivy Vujic returning to their lineup after a decade-long absence. Following their performances at the When We Were Young festival in October 2022, the band were signed to Sumerian and began working on new material.

Recorded with producer Nick Raskulinecz at Sienna and Rock Falcon Studios in Tennessee, Fire is a heavy metal and groove metal album which mixes heaviness and aggression with melody and hooks. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who deemed it a strong comeback album. The album reached number 13 on the UK Rock & Metal Albums chart and number 20 on Billboard Top Album Sales chart, whilst its second single, "We Are Shadows", has reached number 28 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. Kittie chose not to embark on a full-scale tour in support of Fire due to commitments in its members' personal lives, opting instead to perform at various festivals during 2024, alongside a five-date headlining tour of North America in July and August of that year.

Background and recording
In August 2011, Kittie released their sixth album I've Failed You, supporting its release with tours of North America and Australia from August 2011 to May 2012. During the Australia tour, the band parted ways with bassist Ivy Vujic and Trish Doan returned to the band. Kittie played their final concert in September 2013 before going on an indefinite hiatus due to rising costs associated with touring and writing new music, compounded by decreasing interest in the band's live shows. The band's members subsequently moved on to various other musical projects and jobs, whilst working on a documentary about themselves with director Rob McCallum, Kittie: Origins/Evolutions (2017). With the exception of a one-off concert at the documentary's premiere at Rum Runners in London, Ontario, in October 2017, Kittie remained largely on hiatus. Morgan Lander said that both the documentary and the band's 2017 concert were "supposed to be a nice cap on everything" whilst leaving the door open for their future. In a 2018 interview, Morgan said that the band had not written any new material in over six years, and in subsequent interviews she and Mercedes Lander expressed reluctance towards the possibility of recording a new Kittie album without the involvement of Doan, who died in February 2017. In a 2021 interview with Consequence, Morgan said that Doan's death had "made it really difficult to try to feel like it's right to do more [music] when she would have wanted to be the one to be there".

In late 2021, coinciding with a resurgence of nu metal's popularity, Kittie began receiving offers by bookers to play several shows. Mercedes attributed this interest to the band's music becoming popular on the social media platform TikTok and the release of Kittie: Origins/Evolutions onto streaming services. Kittie subsequently ended its hiatus in January 2022 with Vujic rejoining the band on bass. After eight months of rehearsals, the band performed their first show in five years on September 8, 2022, at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival in Alton, Virginia. In October 2022, Kittie performed on all three days of the When We Were Young festival in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the When We Were Young festival, Mercedes reconnected with Sumerian Records label head Ash Avildsen, whom had previously worked with the band as their booking agent in the mid-to-late 2000s. A few weeks after the festival, he offered to sign them to his label. Kittie had not been planning for their reunion to lead to a new album and were "100% unprepared to be offered a record deal" as they had no material; Advildsen told the band that this did not matter. After discussing the idea, the band's members "agreed that it sounded like fun to get back to doing Kittie again", Mercedes said.

Kittie worked on new material over a ten-month period, starting in January 2023 and ending in October of that year. Unlike previous Kittie albums, where the band would jam together in a room, Fire was written remotely as its members had relocated to different places during the hiatus. Morgan said that whilst the band did most of its demoing and writing virtually, she and Mercedes lived close enough to each other for them to do "a lot of skeleton-building the old way." The album's writing had "a lot more intentional attention to detail" and its guitar parts, lyrics and melodies were frequently altered to procure "the best version we could bring", according to guitarist Tara McLeod. The band recorded Fire in five weeks during November and December 2023 with producer Nick Raskulinecz in Tennessee, at Sienna Studios (Nashville) and Rock Falcon Studios (Brentwood). The band spent a week of recording on pre-production. Mercedes said that Kittie "tried really hard to keep things quiet [around recording] because we wanted to build up speculation." Kittie did not believe Raskulinecz would be interested in working with them and did not include him on their initial shortlist of producers for the album, though eventually decided to contact him. Morgan said that he became enthusiastic about working with the band after they sent him their demo of "Eyes Wide Open"; "as soon as that riff happened, that beginning riff, he was, like, 'Sold.' " Of their sixteen songs written for Fire, Kittie were unable to decide on the best ten of them to record and sought Raskulinecz's input. In a July 2024 interview, Mercedes suggested that the six leftover tracks may be reworked and rerecorded in the future for Kittie's next album.

Composition and lyrics
Fire has been described as heavy metal and groove metal. Kerrang! identified the album's core as "straight, relentless metal, sometimes melodic but mostly powering through with sinew and vim." Critics largely agreed that whilst Kittie's return from their hiatus was brought about due to the renewed popularity of the nu metal genre which they were associated with early on in their career, the album bore little resemblance to their early sound. Morgan Lander said that the "ultimate goal" of Fire was "to bring the [Kittie] sound to the modern era". She felt that the album featured elements from all of Kittie's previous albums though noted she approached its writing in a similar vein to their first few, in particular citing the "big riffs" and vibes of their second album Oracle (2001). Its songs mix heaviness and aggression with melody and hooks,  and features vocal harmonies, with Morgan alternating between guttural, screamed and cleanly sung vocals. Metal Hammer attributed Morgan's vocal approach on Fire to her recent activity as the vocalist of the Canadian melodic death metal band Karkaos.

According to Morgan, Fire lyrics feature both empowering and apocalyptic themes, contrasts between good and evil, and recurring motifs to fire; the latter element was "initially unintentional" but was consciously included after "it started to become apparent there was a common thread [during writing]". She also noted that unlike those on previous Kittie albums, they are based more less on her personal experiences and more on "broad concepts" about the world in general. The title track is about the "quiet rage" that develops from expectations of compliance and silence. "I Still Wear This Crown" is about recognizing one's power and importance in their lives regardless of their treatment by others. "Falter" addresses "human bungling and the coming end of the world." Morgan called "Vultures" a "proclamation of breaking free of the chains of exploitation and a reckoning for those who pick at the bones of those who suffer in silence." The song was partially inspired by Kittie's experiences in the music industry. "We Are Shadows" is about dealing with an uncertain and uncontrollable future, and "coming to terms with the damage we do and [accepting] our fate." "One Foot in the Grave" concerns "coming back from the dead and rising from the ashes", in parallel to Kittie's real-life experiences. Closing track "Eyes Wide Open" was the first song written for Fire, and is about trust, betrayal, and seeing past ignorance to uncover one's true motives.

Release and promotion
During their performance at the Sick New World Festival on May 13, 2023, Kittie debuted their first new song in 12 years, "Vultures". On February 14, 2024, Kittie announced that they had signed with Sumerian Records and released the lead single from Fire, "Eyes Wide Open". Morgan said that the band chose to release the song as the lead single "to get people's attention and make a statement". Upon release, Consequence, Exclaim!, Metal Hammer and Revolver listed the song as one of the best of the week. In an interview with Metal Hammer published on April 3, 2024, Morgan revealed the album's title and stated that the album would be released in the summer of 2024. The following day, Kittie released "We Are Shadows" as the album's second single. The song reached number 28 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. On May 8, 2024, the band formally announced Fire and released a music video for "Vultures", featuring the band performing the song live at the 2024 Sick New World festival on April 27, 2024. The album's fourth single, "One Foot in the Grave", was released on May 30, 2024. The album was released on June 21, 2024. On the day of the album's release, Kittie released a music video for its title track. Upon release, Fire reached number 13 on the UK Rock & Metal Albums chart, and number 20 on Billboard Top Album Sales chart.

Kittie began preparing for upcoming live performances in February 2024. Following their appearence at Sick New World, the band performed at the Welcome to Rockville and Sonic Temple festivals in May 2024, and at the Festival d'été de Québec in Place D'Youville, Canada on July 6, 2024. From July 12 to August 23, 2024, Kittie will embark on a five-date headlining tour of North America, supported by Vile Creature, Unearth, Within the Ruins, Stabbing, Upon a Burning Body, VCTMS and Conquer Divide on varying dates. Following the tour, Kittie will play at the Havoc Fest in Jackson, Mississippi. On October 12, 2024, the band will perform at the revived Mayhem Festival in San Bernadino, California.

Due to commitments in its members' personal lives, Kittie's touring efforts in support of Fire will be more limited compared to those for their previous albums. In an April 2024 interview with Metal Hammer, Mercedes said that Kittie "will never be a full-time thing for us again", stating: "We are not in a place where we want to tour for nine months out of the year. Our main focus is not to go back out and slug it out on the road and leave our jobs, but I think we're able to find a good balance." Morgan similarly commented that wide-scale touring would be unfeasable for Kittie "unless some Metallica-sized thing happens", but said that the band wanted "to make sure that the shows that we do play are really special, and the music that we release is very special as well."

Critical reception
Fire received generally positive reviews from critics. Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic praised the album's production and aggression, lauding it as a "stunning maturation and evolution for Kittie, one that makes [their] big return justified and offers hope for a new era in the band's long and winding history." Likewise, Ox-Fanzine Sandra Monterey felt that the album "not just a comeback, but an impressive statement from a band that has regained its place in the metal Olympus." In his review for Blabbermouth.net, Dom Lawson considered it "true to the band's original spirit, but also resolutely up to date". Paul Travers of Metal Hammer UK considered it a "a supremely assured return from a band who, while acknowledging what has gone before, are intent on creating something fresh, new and exciting." Spencer Kaufman of Consequence called the album an "absolute scorcher", highlighting "Vultures" and "One Foot in the Grave" as examples of "Kittie's superb ability to balance heavy with melody."

Emma Johnston of Classic Rock said the album was geared "strictly for the metal crowd", but noted "a defiant joy at play, a pure love for the genre rediscovered after all this time." Steve Beebee of Kerrang! wrote that although the album did not do "anything new or shocking", it "does put Kittie back on the metal map, and reminds us that there's more to them than they first got credit for." Less favourably, Annika Eichstädt of Metal Hammer Germany felt that Kittie "have the tools in their hands, but don't use them as purposefully as they could have", and that the album as a whole "elicits a benevolent shrug of the shoulders".

In June 2024, Consequence listed Fire as one of the 20 best hard rock & metal albums of the year so far, and ranked "Eyes Wide Open" as the 47th best song of the year so far.

Track listing
All songs are written by Morgan Lander, Mercedes Lander, Tara McLeod and Ivy Vujic.

Personnel
Personnel per liner notes. Kittie Artwork
 * Morgan Lander – vocals, guitar
 * Tara McLeod – guitar
 * Ivy Vujic – bass
 * Mercedes Lander – drumsProduction
 * Nick Raskulinecz – production, additional engineering
 * Ted Jensen – mastering (at Sterling Sound)
 * Josh Wilbur – mixing
 * Nathan Yarborough – engineering
 * Eddie Kepner – album artwork