One of the biggest bands in the dark music scene, VNV Nation, has just unveiled the title of its next studio album. It’s called Electric Sun, and it should be out in February 2023.
Electric Sun will be VNV Nation’s 11th album. It follows their 2018 release, Noire, which includes the songs “When Is the Future?” (incidentally, also VNV Nation’s first official music video) and closing track, “All Our Sins,” the most acclaimed track from Noire.
Electric Sun is a startling and compelling title for a VNV Nation album, one that represents energy and the return of the “never ending light” that has been a mainstay in VNV Nation’s music for many years. Noire’s “lights go out” motif upended the long-running theme, perhaps as a reaction to the darkened times in which it arrived. I also can’t help but note the presence of the sun in the title, which might suggest an allusion to our warming planet, another theme that VNV has touched upon in songs like “Carbon” and “Tomorrow Never Comes.”
Here’s what VNV Nation’s Ronan Harris says about the new album:
Writing and pre-production began in 2021, and the album will be completed over the coming months at the VNV studio in Hamburg. What we can say so far is that it will be a symphony of melodies and beats, orchestrating its sound to a level that listeners to VNV Nation haven’t yet experienced.
VNV Nation announce European tour
The new album will be accompanied by a European tour, also called Electric Sun. It kicks off in Copenhagen in late February and concludes in Madrid in May.
They will be joined on the tour by Toronto band Traitrs, whose post-punk sound includes more guitars than you might expect at a VNV Nation show. Their best known song, “Thin Flesh,” comes from their debut album, Butcher’s Coin.
VNV Nation has not yet announced plans to visit North America.
Here’s what Ronan says about the tour:
We can promise you an incredible live show of sound, light and passion. If you have seen VNV Nation live on tour or at a festival, you will know how full of energy and emotion the shows are. The audience and the band aim for unity, two halves building one live experience together, with everyone singing or dancing.
