Pendulum have released their new single, “Napalm,” with Joey Valence & Brae.
The heavy drum & bass tune arrives today as the legendary live drum & bass outfit’s first official release of 2024, following the release of the band’s four-track comeback EP, Anima, which arrived in November 2023.
Differing from the heavy metal tunes found on that release, “Napalm” sees Pendulum return to the trademark fusion of rock and drum & bass that made the Australian band one of the most revered genre acts of this millennium—but with extra punk edge via vocals from hip-hop duo Joey Valence & Brae, known for their mid-1980s-influenced rap-rock tracks like “PUNK TACTICS” and “HOOLIGANG.”
“The label pretty much came to us saying, ‘Make some more drum & bass.’ As you know, I’ve got a weird relationship with that. We decided to go in and make it as heavy as possible, rather than make something that would fit into D&B sets,” Pendulum frontman Rob Swire said of the track in an interview with NME.
Swire added that Valence & Brae’s breakout 2022 hit “PUNK TACTICS” served as a catalyst for the collaboration: “I was half-asleep when I heard it and just suddenly woke up thinking, ‘What the f*** is this? Some vintage Beastie Boys thing I’ve never heard before?’ It f***ing blew my mind.”
“When I found out it was a recent thing I was like, ‘This is f***ing sick. We have to use these guys before someone else steals them,’” he continued.
After a UK arena tour in March and a busy summer of European festival dates, all three of Pendulum’s founding members—Swire, Gareth McGrillen, and Paul Harding—will return to North America next month for a nine-date DJ set tour, touching down in cities like Denver, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta and more.
Listen to Pendulum’s “Napalm” with Joey Valence & Brae below.
Featured image from Pendulum.
