Canadian punk legends Propagandhi today broke their eight-year hiatus with the announcement of a new album.
At Peace – their first release since 2017’s Victory Lap – will be released on May 2nd via Epitaph Records.
The album was forged during the ominous political climate in the months before Trump’s ascent to power in the US.
Uncertainty
Penned shortly before the American oligarch’s suggestion that Propagandhi’s home country become the US’s 51st state, it was then mixed by Jason Livermore (Rise Against, Hot Water Music) at Blasting Room Studios in December 2024.
This collection of poetic and polemic songs captures the anxieties and turmoil of the band’s four members, offering a powerful and poignant portrait of uncertainty.
Together with the album announcement, the title track has been released as the album’s lead single, with its own animated lyric video.
Guitarist and vocalist Chris Hannah said: “Speaking for myself, this record might be a snapshot of me deciding whether I’m going to live out the rest of my life as Eckhart Tolle or live out the rest of my life as Ted Kaczynski.”
In true Propagandhi fashion, At Peace is smart music for dangerous times. The ever-evolving standard-bearers of politically-charged punk have actively kicked against musical confines and bro-punk conservatism, promoting a message of anti-fascism since 1986.
Volatile message
Distilling their DNA of breakneck riffs, hardcore ethos, and radical consciousness, their message remains as vital, and volatile, as ever.
“Everything I’m singing about is still coming from being the same person that wrote and sang our first record How To Clean Everything in 1993,” says Hannah, recalling the band’s snarky skate-thrash origins.
“But what we’re putting into the songs now, probably reflects more despair than 30 years ago when we had similar perspectives, but with strands of hope and naivete. Now it’s the existential dread of eking out a life worth living in this completely failed society.”
“We’re definitely not a band that responds well to someone telling us we need to put something out,” the frontman continues. “That happens when we have something to talk about – and now is definitely the time for that.
Oligarchy
“Twenty years ago, we had a sense that things are fucked but that there could be a mass mobilization of people against the oligarchy, the billionaire class,” says Chris. “I don’t think that exists much in our music any more and I don’t believe that mobilization is forthcoming. I hope to be proven wrong.”
Propagandhi will be touring Europe in May as part of the Reconstruction Tour 2025 (also featuring Pennywise, Comeback Kid, The Iron Roses and Dead Pioneers).
Propagandhi are vocalist Chris Hannah, drummer Jord Samolesky, bassist/co-vocalist Todd Kowalski and guitarist Sulynn Hago. At Peace is available to pre-order HERE.
