Within the electrifying grooves crafted by the Kills’ duo of Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince on their new album God Games, the unmistakable presence of a higher power seems to loom large as they push their sound in new directions.
In the quest to find meaning and spirituality, we often discover our own version of God in the most unexpected places. It could be amidst the serenity of nature, or it could be in a song. Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince, collectively known as the Kills, have played a pivotal role in shaping the sound of this era while redefining the very essence of what rock music can sound like in the 21st century. The enigmatic duo must possess such a rare quality, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to seamlessly share stages with giants like Queens Of The Stone Age and Guns N' Roses, and at the same time, effortlessly light up festivals like Coachella.
The voyage that led to the creation of God Games was a bit tumultuous, to say the least. Returning from their 2019 tour, Mosshart and Hince set out to write the album. However, as the old saying goes, "Make plans, and God laughs." “We started to share ideas and, suddenly, there was a Pandemic,” Mosshart reflects. “There was this strange gap where the universe collapsed in the middle of the album. Sometimes, you have to dig into uncomfortable places to get something good. I feel like we’ve done that on this record.”
In their quest to push to try things another way, Hince encouraged Mosshart to experiment with a $100 keyboard and explore songwriting from this new perspective. As she embraced this inexpensive and basic tool, Hince ventured into the domain of textures and sounds, straying away from his usual guitar-centric writing and instead opting to primarily work on the piano for the very first time. This new way of working provided God Games with a different identity, but it’s still the Kills due to the bond that unites the pair.
To bring God Games to life, the Kills set up camp in an old church (perfect, right?), where they were joined by their long-time friend, Academy and Grammy Award-winning producer Paul Epworth. “Paul was our very first soundman in 2002,” Hince fondly recalls. “Since he was with us when we had two amps, a lightbulb, and a couple of mics in a van, it seemed perfect. He knew how far it had come and could trace the thread back.”