Kansas have unveiled their new song "Throwing Mountains," the first single from their upcoming album The Absence of Presence.

The video for the song contains onstage and behind-the-scenes footage of the band on tour. A 25-second teaser clip was released earlier this week.

“'Throwing Mountains' might be one of the heaviest songs Kansas has ever recorded," guitarist and co-producer Zak Rizvi told Prog. "At over six minutes long, I like to consider it a bit of a Kansas mini-epic."

“It’s very straightforward, 'Get your confidence going, take on any obstacle, conquer the world' song," added keyboardist Tom Brislin. "It's pretty timely in the world today.”

You can watch the video below.

The Absence of Presence arrives on June 26 and marks the 16th studio album for Kansas.The band gave fans a taste of what to expect last month, when it released a teaser video that featured pieces of five songs from the LP, including "Throwing Mountains."

"We are really proud of the album,” Rizvi said in a statement. "Making a new Kansas album sets a very high musical standard that is expected from our fans. From rockers to progressive epics to ballads, there is something on this recording for everybody."

Drummer Phil Ehart - one of only two remaining classic-era members in the band - credited Rizvi and Brislin, both of whom are fairly recent additions, for helping usher the group into a new era.

"This sounds like Kansas," Ehart declared. "Zak wrote the majority of [previous album] The Prelude Implicit and this album, and now having Tom Brislin add a couple of his songs and his keyboard prowess really pushes the band even more toward that original sound, which is not easy to do by any means. You've got to have the material. You've got to have the singer to sing it. You've got to have lyrics that are Kansas-type lyrics. These guys get it, and the other four of us who have been here for 20, 40, 50 years, we're just sitting here grinning, going 'This is great!'"

"I think people will really be surprised by the album,” added singer Ronnie Platt. “The Absence of Presence shows the band firing on all cylinders."

 

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