This wasn’t the first time Incubus had taken a long break. There was also a five-year hiatus between 2006’s “Light Grenades” and 2011’s “If Not Now, When?”
The reasons for both breaks were essentially the same, said Kenney: The band members needed to live a life that wasn’t recording and touring, which the band had been doing constantly at that point for nine years, since their 1997 major-label debut, “S.CI.E.N.C.E.”
“You don’t grow up normal if you spend your life on the road,” Kenney said. “We were away from family and anything constant. We weren’t going to survive unless we reinforced our human selves. The good news is that whatever needed to happen happened, because we came back hungry to make music again.”
Kenney joined the band in 2003 at the height of their success.
Like many Incubus albums, “8” features a few hard rockers (the album’s first single, “Nimble Bastard,” currently on the radio, is one of these) and then whatever experimental territory the band is currently exploring. In this case, the album was remixed at the eleventh hour by the well-known EDM producer Skrillex.
“A lot of it is about taking stock, being middle-aged,” Kenney said. “Skrillex put his stamp on it, which was interesting, not something we would’ve done five years ago. But we also wanted to rock out a bit. (Lead guitarist) Mike (Eizinger) is a very powerful guitarist, but I have a big ego, too, so when we’re put out on the horse track, we have a little (peeing) contest, where we go riff for riff. We did that way back on (2004’s) ‘A Crow Left of the Murder,’ too, and it was fun to do it again, like teen-agers.”
Since Incubus released the new album and announced their tour, several media outlets have noted that it’s the 20-year anniversary of “S.C.I.E.N.C.E.,” but Kenney said it’s a bit early for nostalgia.
“We don’t usually trip over that kind of stuff,” he said. “Whenever there’s a 10-year anniversary of something, I’ll be like, ‘Wow, I’m old, my back hurts, let’s go on tour.’ We’re not too heavy on sentimentality yet. We’re still looking at the future.”
Contact this contributing writer at aaronepple@gmail.com.
How to go
What: Incubus, with Jimmy Eat World, Judah and the Lion
Where: Riverbend Music Center, 6295 Kellogg Ave., just east of Cincinnati
When: 6:45 p.m. Thursday, July 27
Cost: $29.50-$99.50
More info: (513) 232-6220 or www.riverbend.org
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