SPILL NEW MUSIC: ANDREW W.K. RETURNS WITH ‘TEMPTATION TO EXIST’ | HIS FIRST NEW ALBUM IN FIVE YEARS

ANDREW W.K. RETURNS WITH TEMPTATION TO EXIST | HIS FIRST NEW ALBUM IN FIVE YEARS

THE LOUISE HARLAND CORPORATION

After five years away, Andrew W.K. returns with Temptation to Exist — an audacious, instrumental jazz-noir album that marks one of the most unexpected transformations in the career of an artist who has spent more than two and a half decades defying expectations.

Best known around the world as the King of Partying, Andrew W.K. emerged at the beginning of the millennium as an almost impossibly energetic force in rock music. His landmark 2001 debut I Get Wet and its enduring anthem “Party Hard” established a musical and philosophical universe built around celebration, intensity, perseverance, and the sheer exhilaration of being alive.

Now, nearly 25 years after I Get Wet, Andrew W.K. opens an entirely new door with Temptation to Exist and showcases Andrew W.K. as he has never been heard before.

Trading the maximalist hard rock associated with much of his career for a sprawling instrumental landscape of piano, brass, woodwinds, cello, percussion, vibraphone, organ, synthesizers, and more, the album reveals another dimension to an artist whose musicality has always extended far beyond his public persona.

Andrew W.K. produced and mixed the album himself while also performing piano, guitar, bass, drums, percussion, organ, celeste, vibraphone, keyboards, synthesizers, and vocals throughout the record. He is joined by Nick Lane on trombone and bass trombone; Gabe Noel on cello and bass harmonica; and Ryan Tharayil on alto saxophone, flute, and clarinet, who also served as assistant engineer.

Where Andrew W.K.’s earlier music turned partying into a philosophy — an ecstatic affirmation of existence itself — Temptation to Exist approaches that same existential territory from an entirely different direction. The result is music that is exploratory, unpredictable, cinematic, and at times disorienting – unexpected yet unmistakably Andrew W.K.

The party hasn’t ended. It has simply entered another room.

Temptation to Exist is Andrew W.K.’s first album since 2021’s God Is Partying, a record that pushed his signature maximalism into increasingly dark and psychologically charged territory while adorning widespread critical acclaim, appearing on numerous year-end metal lists, including being named the #1 Metal Album of 2021 by MetalSucks’ Vince Neilstein, while also earning spots among Metal Hammer writers’ best metal albums of the year. Five years later, rather than retracing those steps, Andrew has emerged somewhere altogether different.

Yet for an artist who has always insisted on experiencing life at its most intense, perhaps the transformation isn’t as radical as it first appears. From the ecstatic simplicity of “Party Hard” to the intricate musical landscapes of Temptation to Exist, the underlying pursuit remains remarkably consistent: finding a way through music to confront the overwhelming experience of being alive.

Temptation to Exist was recorded and mixed at Valentine Studios in Los Angeles and Lobrutto Visuals/R.C.U. Audio West in Los Angeles.

The album was produced and mixed by Andrew W.K., with Steev Mike serving as Executive Producer. Engineering was handled by Andy Petr, with mixing assistance by Petr and assistant engineering by Ryan Tharayil. Nic Jodoin provided studio management. The album was mastered by legendary mastering engineer Howie Weinberg, whose extensive career has included work with some of the most influential artists and recordings in modern music, including many of Andrew W.K.’s albums. Creative direction for Temptation to Exist was led by Frank Vierti and Phem C. Palmer, with the album’s cover photograph by Herb Maximo.

Andrew W.K.
Temptation to Exist
(The Louise Harland Corporation)
Release Date: August 31, 2026

Artist Links

Background Photo Credit: Nina Ottolino