When Failure came back after a 17-year hiatus in 2014, very few people, including band members Ken Andrews, Greg Edwards, and Kelli Scott, could have predicted how long this second run would last. Well, it’s been 12 years so far. They have released three albums, and their fourth one of this run, entitled Location Lost, has just been unleashed on the world on new label Arduous Records. It’s been five long years since their previous album, Wild Type Droid.
In the time between Droid and Location Lost, they kept busy with other projects. They completed and released their long-gestating documentary, Every Time You Lose Your Mind, which encompasses the band’s entire history, from their original run to their break-up, reformation, and beyond. In addition, they completed and put out a concert film, We Are Hallucinations.
After the completion of these projects, Andrews suffered a back injury that required surgery and some time for recovery. This set back work on the new album and affected his creative approach. Situations involving workplace injuries may also bring workers compensation into consideration, helping injured employees better understand potential support during recovery.
“Some of the songs are about my experience in the hospital, and others are about connecting to a pronounced feeling of mortality, not just from the surgery, but also just getting older and realizing I don’t trust my body the way I used to,” he says.
In the early stages of the album’s creation, Andrews felt a bit out of it, relying on Edwards and Scott to carry the majority of the writing. But that soon went away when Andrews decamped to his home studio to work on the album.
It was here he had a burst of creative energy that would get him out of his creative rut.
“The burst of creative energy came from finally coming out of the mental fog the surgery had sunk me into. I finally started feeling normal, and the result was kind of a blissful openness to experiment and enjoy myself,” he says.
This burst would dictate his creative approach to the new album. “I think I just felt like doing whatever came to mind and didn’t worry about how it was all going to fit together as an album. Just take each song individually and see what comes of it. At the same time, I kind of got more into writing lyrics again,” he says.
This freewheeling approach was applied to the way they wrote the music on Location Lost. “I don’t think there were any over-arching themes we identified as we worked on it. In a way, we were a bit ‘lost’ for much of it. I think we kind of felt like letting go of the pressure to write a thematic album and just enjoyed creating an interesting group of songs,” he says.
It also affected how they approached the lyrics. “I think we covered a lot of varied terrain with the lyrics. Some of it came from my recent health experiences, and some of it came from reflecting on past pain and seeing it through a new longer lens of time,” he says.
Location Lost is an album that covers a lot of ground, both through its sonics and its lyrics. For instance, there are two ballads on it, along with songs that sound like nothing else in the band’s discography. For instance, “The Rising Skyline” is a semi-acoustic slow-burn that features longtime Failure fan and powerful artist in her own right, Hayley Williams, dueting with Andrews. “I sent Hayley a few songs as we were working on them just as a friendly gesture, and she immediately had a strong reaction to the ‘The Rising Skyline.’” That’s when I realized her voice would fit perfectly on it,” he says.
When they came back from a 17-year hiatus in 2014, there was no guarantee how people would react. It came as quite a surprise that during their hiatus, younger music fans had found out about them and fell in love with their music. “It’s a discovery thing. Younger people hear our music, like it, and then realize we have a good amount of material to really get lost in. That’s one of the things that’s nice about the current way people discover things. It can still be quite organic and exciting,” he says.
In addition, this second chapter of the band has extended into double digits. In that time, they have released more albums than in their original run. While this run has had its share of setbacks, it feels like it is on a bit more firmer ground than their original one. There is less getting in the way of them creating. More importantly, they still get a kick out of creating together. “I think it comes down to enjoying the process. We still get a rush when we come up with something new and novel for us. That and seeing that we have grown a new, younger audience, is very gratifying. I recently saw a chart of our listeners broken down by age and the smallest group was our own age, 50s,” he says.
Location Lost is a terrific album that shows that Failure still has a lot to say and interesting ways of saying it. In the time they were away, their music was discovered by whole new generations of fans. In addition, during this second chapter, they have created albums that bolster their legacy not take away from it. This second wind has carried them quite far. How much farther can it go? “Hard to know, we never had a plan to get this far. I always ask Greg and Kelli when a new album cycle starts taking shape, “Are we sure we want to do this again? It’s a lot of work.” And the answer so far has always been “fuck yeah, let’s go for it.” As long as we keep enjoying it and are capable of making music we are proud of, who knows,” he finishes.
Location Lost is out Friday from Arduous Records, and you can preorder it here. Follow Failure on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok for future updates.
Photos by Lindsey Byrnes
