The Kills: “Why should hip-hop be future-forward and guitar music always looking back?”

nme.com:

The Kills have spoken to NME about ‘00s tabloid infamy, indie sleaze, working with Beck and the need to push guitar music forward.Seven years on from 2016’s ‘Ash & Ice‘, the duo’s forthcoming sixth album ‘God Games’ marks an exciting evolution for the duo of Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince.

It was the first they began writing on a $100 keyboard rather than guitar, and the experimentation involved resulted in a very contemporary and organic rebirth record – exploring everything from gruesome hip-hop, future-Siouxsie voodoo, insidious gospel, flamenco noir, junk store balladry and beyond.“It changed everything about my songwriting,” Mosshart told NME. “We could do rhythms that were completely different, I was vocalising in a different way, melodies were coming to me that I don’t think would if I was just strumming away on an acoustic guitar.

All of a sudden, I could be playing a grand piano and I’m like, ‘How cool. This is awesome. I can get in that headspace now’.“It really freed up writing for us both.

Once we realised that was happening, then that’s when it becomes intentional and you’re like, ‘OK, let’s keep going with this crappy little keyboard because it’s totally working.”We caught up with Mosshart and Hince to talk about their new direction, famous friends, indie sleaze and their legacy.Mosshart: “I don’t think guitars are old hat.