HAKEN

Haken’s Fauna is their most genre-busting and conceptually fascinating album to date. Each song is assigned an animal, with themes that connect the animal kingdom to the human world. As singer and co-founder Ross Jennings explains, “Each track has layers, and some of them are more obvious than others.”

The album’s finale, “Eyes Of Ebony,” is about the near-extinct northern white rhinoceros and is also dedicated to guitarist Richard Henshall’s father. Opening track “Taurus” draws on the wildebeest migration and the destruction and displacement caused by the Russia–Ukraine war. “Lovebite” takes a more tongue-in-cheek approach, using the black widow spider as a metaphor for failed relationships.

Musically, Fauna finds Haken at their most diverse, from the heavy, jagged chords of “Taurus” to the delicate, start-stop guitar picking of “Eyes Of Ebony” and the bouncing bassline of “Island In The Clouds.” Keyboardist Peter Jones returned to the band after a fourteen-year absence, bringing new sounds and a fresh dynamic.

Songwriting began in late 2020 and continued until February 2022. The band then recorded in their own studios after touring the US with Symphony X. The album artwork is by Dan Goldsworthy.