IAMX Welcomes You To Their "Kingdom"

Berlin-based IAMX has created a diehard cult who wait for their every move with bated breath. The band's upcoming third album, "Kingdom of Welcome Addiction," set for release on May 19th by Metropolis Records, features glam noir stylings as IAMX get an organic and much more intimate makeover.

"I always imagined IAMX as a broad project," explains band leader Chris Corner. "I feel completely free to experiment in every aspect - with humor, with sincerity, with sex, with anger, with fragility. I am a very private person but I felt, with a more organic approach, I could begin to explore and expose another angle. IAMX does have two sides: the rabid animal and the bleeding heart. I am trying to show a warmer, more concerned side with this album."

Kingdom of Welcome Addiction is a foray into the sensitive side of IAMX. While earlier IAMX material was swathed in rhythmic dance beats and hard electropop, his vulnerability remained shielded from this form of armor and rarely emerged except for glimpses from his recent live television performances in late 2008 on Fearless, Vlaze, ManiaTV, etc. Included on the album is "My Secret Friend," which features a duet with the Grammy-nominated Imogen Heap, further pushes the boundaries for IAMX's music, as this is the very first duet Corner has ever done.

"I would never subject anyone to the full attack of my hypersensitivity but, yes, I felt it was time to bring out sincerity," he says of the songs. "I have long been avoiding simple statements personally and creatively. Life is simple. Everybody is vulnerable and I feel comfortable with that now. In fact, it has added risk and depth for me, standing by such exposing and, on the face of it, banal words."

Originally breaking through the mainstream as one of the founding members of Sneaker Pimps, Chris Corner has been building his empire from within the broken walls of Berlin in the past few years. Frustrated from the industry forays of his former band, he built IAMX in his own vision without any input from outside sources. What he's created is a timeless catalog of dark and primal dance/rock music that is perfectly at home in a dark and swanky club as it is in a huge and expansive music hall, which has been put to the test with his multiple sold-out tours through the US in the last two years.

Ever the philosophical and incredible thinker, Corner explains the origin of the album's title, Kingdom of Welcome Addiction as thus: "IAMX is my subversive little kingdom. I feel a bit like a mutant Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator. It is here, and in the environment it has created, that I feel at home. Almighty, dynamic, omnipotent. I imagine everyone has such a place, a dream, or a persona. The drug of all drugs. The power of reason, passion, change and independence. Addiction in the positive."

Tour dates are as follow:

• June 2 TT the Bear's Place Cambridge, MA
• June 4 Bowery Ballroom New York, NY
• June 6 Subterranean Chicago, IL
• June 9 Slim's San Francisco, CA
• June 12 El Rey Theatre Los Angeles, CA

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