THE RASMUS Releases Music Video For 'Weirdo' Title Track Featuring THE FUNERAL PORTRAIT Singer LEE JENNINGS
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It's been almost a year since the Finnish rock outfit THE RASMUS released the first single ("Rest In Pieces" on October 24, 2024) from its eleventh studio album, "Weirdo", which finally arrives today (September 12) via Better Noise Music (the band's first for the label) and Playground Music.
To celebrate today's album release, THE RASMUS has shared the title track with their legions of fans, especially since they teamed up with THE FUNERAL PORTRAIT singer Lee Jennings for song and accompanying video which can be seen here.
"'Weirdo' was the first song we wrote and it shaped the concept for the entire album," says THE RASMUS frontman Lauri Ylönen. "It celebrates being different and individual. Since the first song I ever wrote in 1994 called 'Myself', I've felt like an outcast and someone who doesn't quite fit in."
"Being a part of 'Weirdo' with THE RASMUS has been incredible," states Jennings. "It's an anthem for the outcasts, and I'm beyond proud of how it turned out. Working with such an iconic band has been awesome, and now we're hitting the road together across Europe. Get ready! THE FUNERAL PORTRAIT and THE RASMUS are coming to represent all of the Weirdos across Europe this November."
The "Weirdo" single release is the follow up to "Love Is A Bitch", released July 11 and described by Ylönen as a "wildcard" track for THE RASMUS. The fourth single, "Break These Chains", was released May 16 along with the "Break These Chains" video, which has since garnered over 812,000 views, while "Creatures Of Chaos" arrived March 28, with the video racking up over 875,000 views. The album's first single, "Rest In Pieces", was rolled out on October 25, 2024, paired with a lyric video which now has amassed over 668,000 views.
Known for their musically dark atmospheres, the band subversively merges catchy modern pop stylings with stadium-sized guitar crunch throughout the songs on "Weirdo".
"I find it comforting that our eleventh album, 'Weirdo', has pretty much the same message as on our first album released in 1996," explains Ylönen. "It is to defend and praise the ones who are different from the masses and proudly being themselves as they are. It has been our philosophy from the very beginning."
Ylönen further explains the power behind being a "weirdo." "In this society I've always felt that I've had to prove myself for being the way I am or doing the things I do. I've always felt like an outsider not fitting the norm. I've been called a weirdo, misfit and a freak. That used to make me angry — but not anymore. It's become my source of strength and confidence. I've realized the power of it. All the people I find exciting and inspiring are somehow strange. We, the Weirdos, unite and feed off people's judging attitudes. The fact is they're just afraid of us. Afraid of our capability to create new and change the future. Are you a Weirdo? Join us…"
Most of the songs on "Weirdo" were written by Lauri Ylönen, Desmond Child (who contributed to the band's "Black Roses" and "Rise" albums and has worked with BON JOVI, JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS, AEROSMITH and ALICE COOPER, among countless others) and Marti Fredriksen (AEROSMITH, OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK VEIL BRIDES) in Folegandros, Greece. That's where Lauri and Desmond met up to work on material that Lauri brought. THE RASMUS then did full band demos of all the tracks in Finland in July 2023, with production led by Frederiksen and Child. Later, they finalized the songs and recorded the album with the whole band in Marti Fredriksen's Sienna Studios in Nashville. Some of the tracks were mixed by Fredriksen in Nashville, assisted by Evan Fredriksen, while other mixes were done by Chris Baseford (NICKELBACK, SHINEDOWN, DAUGHTRY) in Vancouver, Canada and by Claudius Mittendorfer (PANIC! AT THE DISCO, WE ARE SCIENTISTS) in London, and Joseph McQueen (BAD WOLVES, AS I LAY DYING, FROM ASHES TO NEW) in Los Angeles. Additional production by McQueen injects a fresh intensity into tracks like "Creatures Of Chaos" and "Break These Chains", while Ylönen himself takes the helm on "Rest In Pieces" alongside Alex Mattson.
