Fire Track: Krill – “Secret Language”

Fire Track · Exploding in Sound

Krill Come Home on “Secret Language,” the Tender Heart of Their First Album in Over a Decade

The reunited Chicago trio share the title track from Secret Language, out November 13 via Exploding in Sound, and it is exactly what the return of a beloved band should feel like.

Krill were declared dead in 2015 after three LPs and two EPs that made them one of the more quietly essential acts in the Boston indie scene, revered by Frankie Cosmos, Girlpool, and Horse Jumper of Love and praised in the same breath as Pile and Speedy Ortiz. Jonah Furman, Ian Becker, and guitarist Andrew Clinkman (Spirits Having Fun, Moontype) reunited “on a whim” after Theo from Ovlov asked if they wanted to open a Chicago show. That was apparently all it took. Secret Language, their first album since 2015 and their first as the reconstituted trio with Clinkman, arrives this Friday.

The title track is the album’s beating heart, and it earns that distinction. Furman wrote the first verses from the words of Goodnight Moon read backwards, something he does with his kids at bedtime. It is a small, specific detail that opens into something much larger: a song about wanting to know the people closest to you, about the private language that forms between family members, about what marriage looks like when the kids are finally asleep. Maria Jacobson of Chicago’s Fran provides background vocals. The album was recorded in Humboldt Park with Seth Engel (Patter) producing and engineering, and also features Macie Stewart (Finom, violin) and Will Greene (Trigger, saxophone), marking the first time Krill has brought in outside players.

Pre-Order Secret Language ↗

1Porch

2Dominate

3Commemorative Plaque

4Driving

5Snails

6Hawaii

7Karst Fenster

8Secret Language

9Theme From Krill 2