Image: Universal Music Canada
Arkells have dropped a surprise single, Handshake Thugs – marking their first new music since their latest album Between Us arrived earlier this spring. The band wrote the track in early September, recorded it a few weeks later with producer Gus van Go, and immediately started playing it live on tour in the UK this fall.
Says Max Kerman: “We tend to think of thugs as people who steal, cause havoc, and make our lives less safe. But these are largely imagined boogie men. The real thugs sit at the top, make deals for themselves, and eat first, before everyone else. Handshake Thugs is a song for the 99%, inspired by the 1%.”






