Rotterdam-based post-punk group and analog recording innovators Rats on Rafts have released new song called "Hibernation", out now via Fire Records/Kurious Recordings.

"Hibernation" shows a more chilling, sparse side to the band, a significant departure from the sweeping, panoramic psych-rock thespianism of their third LP Excerpts From Chapter 3: The Mind Runs A Net Of Rabbit Paths. Listen to the song below:

Rats-frontman David Fagan had the following to say about the more coldwave-like direction of the song:

“I noticed that I could feel really comfortable with songs that can feel really heavy and isolated. If you listen to a Joy Division record for example, for a lot of people they’re really downcast. But for some people it’s like stepping into a really warm bath, because you can really identify with that music. I think that’s also what’s going on with ‘Hibernation’. I could identify with the coldness of the atmosphere, and that languid feeling of that song.”  

"Hibernation" is a lament about nature and mortality, and how their workings become clearer as you age. According to the band, the song pretty much wrote itself. “Sometimes there are really tough times you have to go through, and usually it’s just a matter of time," Fagan continues. "But the deeper you are in them, the harder it is to realize that in the end, it’s just a period. Experience has shown that this feels much different when you’re younger, which is why I don’t think I could have come up with this song when I was 20.”

With "Hibernation" Rats on Rafts have announced an extensive European tour. Check all of the dates below:

02-12 — North Shields, UK - Engine Room
02-13 — Edinburgh, UK - Voodoo Rooms, Speakeasy
02-14 — Glasgow, UK - Old Hairdressers
02-16 — Dublin, Ireland - Bello Bar
02-18 — Manchester, UK - The Peer Hat
02-19 — Norwich, UK - Voodoo Daddy’s
02-20 — Coventry, UK - The Tin
02-21 — Brighton, UK - Prince Albert
02-22 — London, UK - Two Palms
02-23 — Ramsgate, UK - Ramsgate Music Hall
03-07 — Rotterdam, Netherlands - Rotown
03-14 — Groningen, Netherlands - Vera
03-15 — Nijmegen, Netherlands - Merlyn
03-27 — Eindhoven, Netherlands - Stroomhuis
03-28 — Utrecht, Netherlands - Ekko
03-29 — Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
04-03 — Freiburg, Germany - Swamp
04-04 — Karlsruhe, Germany - Kohi
04-05 — Schorndorf, Germany - Manufaktur
04-06 — Neu-Ulm, Germany - Gold
04-22 — Aachen, Germany - Musikbunker
04-23 — Hamburg, Germany - Goldener Salon
04-25 — Berlin, Germany - Schokoladen
04-26 — Leipzig, Germany - UT Connewitz

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