KING DIAMOND guitarist Andy La Rocque and bassist Pontus Egberg recently sat down with Jimmy Kay of The Metal Voice to discuss the two new songs — “Spider Lilly” and “Electro Therapy” — that the band is debuting on its current North American headlining tour. The “Saint Lucifer’s Hospital 1920” trek, which kicked off on October 15 at the Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio, Texas, will run through December 6, concluding in Dallas, Texas. The tour is supported by OVERKILL and NIGHT DEMON, with special guest Myrkur providing additional backing vocals during the set.
Speaking about the creation of “Spider Lilly,” Andy shared (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “The idea came from King [Diamond, the band’s singer and namesake]. I’m not sure exactly when, but he’s been working on it for quite a while. The lyrics were finished just a few days before the tour began, actually. King sent me the basics of the song about a week before we started the tour, so we had to learn it really quickly, record it, and get ready to shoot a video for it too. It’s the newest song we’re playing live. ‘Spider Lilly’ is a tough character. She can be both mean and good, and I believe her story will evolve as we go along.”
When asked if King had been sitting on the musical idea for “Spider Lilly” for a long time, Andy responded: “Not really. King had some initial ideas, but we only realized the full concept just before the tour started. It wasn’t something that had been in the works for years.”
Pontus added, “As Andy mentioned, we only heard the rough demo of ‘Spider Lilly’ a week before heading to the U.S., so we had to quickly learn and record it. I believe it’s been mixed now.”
Andy also mentioned that “Spider Lilly” would be released as a video single, though the exact release date is still to be determined. “We have other songs in the works as well,” he explained. “King has a lot of ideas, and I’ve got several demo tracks that are either finished or near completion.”
When asked if the new KING DIAMOND album is completed, Andy clarified: “No, we’re still working on it. Once the tour is over, we’ll take a short Christmas break, then pick things up again. The goal is to have everything done by this spring, and we plan to release it shortly after our European summer festival tour. That’s the current plan.”
On the origins of “Electro Therapy,” Andy explained: “That song has actually been around for a couple of years. I think I wrote the initial riffs back on tour in 2019. It’s gone through several changes, especially in the verses, as we’ve been working to find the right key for King to sing in. What we have now is probably the final version, and it will definitely be on the album. King is still fine-tuning the lyrics, but you’ll hear the updated version tonight.”
