Killswitch Engage have followed up their recently released new song "Unleashed" — the triumphant lead single off the band's highly anticipated eighth album, Atonement — with a darker new offering "I Am Broken Too." While the latest single is brief, at just over two minutes, it covers heavy ground, particularly in its deeply personal lyrics.
"It's a quick one. It came to us that way," Killswitch singer and lyricist Jesse Leach told us recently of the cut. "Justin [Foley, Killswitch's drummer] wrote the song and it was like as soon as I heard it I was like, 'Wow. OK, the chorus is going to come right in. That's nuts!' Not intentional, but short and sweet and gets right to the point. That song still makes me well up in tears. It's not about me, it's about somebody else, but me saying to them, 'Look you've been trying to pretend you're OK, and I know you're not.' That line, 'If you need proof/I will reopen my wounds,' I had just written that and Adam [Dutkiewicz, Killswitch's guitarist and producer] was like, 'No you have to bring that in, it's powerful.' And I'm proud of that song especially. I want to speak to people and I wanna let them know they're not alone. I can't help it."
Killswitch are donating a portion of the proceeds from the song to Hope for the Day, a Chicago-based non-profit organization that focuses on suicide prevention by providing outreach and mental health education through the use of music and art. Stream "I Am Broken Too" above. Atonement is due August 16th via Metal Blade Records. Killswitch just kicked off a headlining tour with Clutch — check out the upcoming itinerary here.
Below, see Jesse Leach talk about his struggles with mental health and how music has helped him through dark times:
