Alison Mosshart and Jamie Jamie Hince of The Kills. Courtesy.

Check out my complete story about the The Kills and their ever-busy vocalist-guitarist Alison Mosshart HERE.

RIFF: On how despite their tinkering with their sound, the live show finds a link between new songs and old songs.

Alison Mosshart: The beautiful thing about our band is that no matter what’s going on underneath, it always sounds like Jamie and I on the top. It always come back down to this thing that is essentially The Kills. I love that about our records. To me they all sound different, but when we go out on stage and play … it actually forms this one picture that works seamlessly together. … You’re always walking this territory where you think this is so weird and different (that) it doesn’t even sound like us, and then the second you get on stage, you say, “of course, it’s just us.”

What do your new songs sound like?

Alison Mosshart: I can’t describe it. I see everything visually. Everything to me is a picture and not really a sound. If I tell you what it sounds like, it won’t sound like that at all. At this point we have 10 songs recorded. We need a couple more. Then they’ll be in post-production, where lots of things will probably change. They can take on any form.

On whether the sessions drummers The Kills have worked with means that there will be live drummers on stage:

Alison Mosshart: I have no idea what the live show will be yet, because the record is not done. By the time we mix the record, we’ll determine what’s going to be needed on stage. At this point it’s a free-for-all. We can record anything we want, and then we’re going to have to figure out how to recreate that. Is it just two people or are we going to need more people?

You recently contributed vocals to “Bad Blood,” a song for “The Walking Dead” soundtrack, as well as making a song and video with the musical director of “Sons of Anarchy” and his band. Safe to presume you’re  a fan of both shows?

Alison Mosshart: Yeah. With ‘The Walking Dead,” I didn’t get to the end. I was with them for a long time but it got a little busy. “Sons of Anarchy,” though, I know every second by heart. I loved that show.

The Kills Tour Dates
July
25—Seattle, Wash. @ Capitol Hill Block Party
27—Los Angeles, Calif. @ El Rey
28—Pomona, Calif. @ Glass House
31—Montreal, Quebec @ Osheaga Music and Arts Festival

August
1—Detroit, Mich. @ St. Andrew’s Hall
3—Minneapolis, Minn. @ First Avenue
5—Denver, Colo. @ Ogden Theatre
6—Salt Lake City, Utah @ Twilight Concert Series (Pioneer Park)
8—Portland, Ore. @ Roseland Theatre
9—Squamish, B.C. @ Squamish Valley Music Festival

September
23—Philadelphia, Pa. @ Union Transfer
24—Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Warsaw
27—Washington D.C. @ Landmark Festival

Follow Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.