Alexisonfire announce first album in 13 years, Otherness, share explosive new single, Sweet Dreams of Otherness

Canadian post-hardcore outfit Alexisonfire have announced their first album in 13 years, Otherness, sharing its anthemic lead single, Sweet Dreams of Otherness.

Arriving June 24 via Dine Alone Records – 20 years after their self-titled debut – Otherness will be the band's fifth studio outing overall, following 2009's Old Crows / Young Cardinals.

Kicking off proceedings, Sweet Dreams of Otherness is an explosive mid-tempo anthem powered by Wade MacNeil and Dallas Green's massive overdriven electric guitar riffs. Check it out below.

“This song was largely Dallas's brain child, but over the course of writing this record, it became more of a mission statement for the band,” says frontman George Pettit. “It's kind of about performance and embracing a new found confidence in a state of peculiarity.”

Otherness – produced by Alexisonfire and mixed by engineer Jonah Falco – was produced in “roughly a week”, and is reflection of the “continuous thread through the fabric of Alexisonfire”, the band explain.

“Otherness drew us all to spaces where a band like this could be formed. We attract the type of individuals that have all felt the sensation of being strange or unique. Perceived or otherwise, otherness has followed us through childhood, adolescence, and into our adult lives. It drives our tastes and proclivities. It bonds us with ourselves and others. And make no mistake, even at our most domestic and mundane moments, we are true outliers.”

And as MacNeil recalls, the band went into making this record with a renewed mindset. “We were all really thrilled to make a record, and it was such a respite from what was going on in the world,” he says. “It felt like life could be beautiful. We were supportive of one another. Everyone was in such a good mood. It was such a treat to be able to do it again.

Part of the impetus to enter the studio to record Otherness was the desire not to become a ”nostalgia act” that only plays old songs on tour.

“The only reason to come back is if we feel we still have something to say,” Pettit says. “We spent so much time on the road thinking that if we stopped, people would lose interest. But then we went away, it only got bigger. We all carved new paths for ourselves, so coming back to Alexisonfire is a purely enjoyable creative venture. Something special happens when we get in a room together.”

Otherness is available for preorder from March 11 at 11AM ET. Take a look at its track list below.

1. Committed to the Con 
2. Sweet Dreams of Otherness
3. Sans Soleil
4. Conditional Love
5. Blue Spade
6. Dark Night of the Soul
7. Mistaken Information
8. Survivor's Guilt
9. Reverse the Curse
10. World Stops Turning