... While Refused's reunion came to an end late last year, band vocalist Dennis Lyxzén isn't ready to fully close the door on the outfit. When asked by Rollingstone.com earlier this month if there was still a future for the outfit, he replied: "That I don't know. We said in the summer when we played our last show, that was the last show. The other guys are busy. I'm doing this INVSN project and AC4. Everyone is just busy with life. That being said, never say never. We had a great year. When we broke up in 1998, I wrote anger manifestos and we didn't talk to each other for years, but [now] we stay in touch. We talk every week. We'll see what the future brings. Right now, there are no plans in the pipeline." An announcement was made earlier today that Lyxzén's INVSN have signed with Razor & Tie. Dennis Lyxzén On Refused's Future: "Never Say Never" ... [ read more ]

... After touring the world with his semi-recent Refused reunion and issuing a new hardcore record with AC4, Swedish music hero Dennis Lyxzén has formed a new alt-rock group called INVSN. The group, which is rounded out by Andre Sandström (DS-13), Sara Almgren (The International Noise Conspiracy), Richard Österman and Anders Stenberg (Lykke Li, Deportees), are currently completing the final touches on their debut album. The record's being mixed by Nick Launay (Arcade Fire) and Jacob Hansen (Volbeat). They've also signed with Razor & Tie. In a press release, Head of A & R Pete Giberga said, "We are so excited to have INVSN as a part of our growing Razor & Tie family. They are a young band of seasoned and influential artists, led by Dennis Lyxzen, who has had such an extraordinary impact on rock music for the last several years." INVSN's debut album is expected this fall. In the meantime, you can stream lead single "Down in the Shadows" below or, in exchange for an email address, download it here. Refused Frontman Dennis Lyxzén Forms INVSN, Shares New Song ... [ read more ]

... Related ContentView Photo Q&A; With Refused's Dennis Lyxzen: Reunion Success Was 'A Bit Trippy' The intense, roaring crowds that greeted last year's reunion tour of the Swedish hardcore act Refused were a welcome shock to singer Dennis Lyxzén. Last playing the States in 1998 to half-empty basements and coffeehouses, they broke apart mid-tour in anger and dismay. Fourteen years later, they found themselves at Coachella to begin a long series of sold-out concert dates. "That is a bit trippy," Lyxzén tells Rolling Stone. "It is not something we expected when we were crying and fighting after that last show." With Refused again on indefinite (if far less angry) hiatus, Lyxzén isn't yet ready to slow down. Last month, his straight-ahead hardcore act AC4 released Burn the World, and he's also just finished recording an album of driving postpunk tunes with INVSN (a.k.a. Invasionen), with hopes for a late-summer release and tour. Among the 10 tracks from the still untitled album is a song called "Down in the Shadows," a breathless duet with Sara Almgren, with the lyrics: "They're never going to give you praise when you come crawling on your knees." Refused Reunion Coming to an End Like Refused, Lyxzén's other bands come from the northern Swedish town of Umeå, and he's known most of his bandmates since he was an adolescent punk in a Mohawk and Doc Martens, when his music and politics first became intertwined. (His equally leftist [International] Noise Conspiracy is currently inactive.) On the phone from an AC4 tour stop in Münster, Germany, Lyxzén spoke with Rolling Stone about his many projects, his life-changing discovery of punk, and the past and unknown future of Refused. The music you play with AC4 is exactly the kind of hardcore that got you started, right? Yeah, totally. ... [ read more ]