photos by Sheri Furneaux
Connecticut’s self-deprecating noise rock entity INTERCOURSE are set to deliver their crushing new full-length, How I Fell In Love With The Void, on September 12th via Brutal Panda Records, today unveiling the hilariously disturbing new video for “The Ballad Of Max Wright.”
How I Fell In Love With The Void was recorded by Chris Teti (The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die) at Silver Bullet Studios in Burlington, Connecticut. It was mastered by George Richter (Thy Will Be Done) and mixed by Chris Teti and Greg Thomas. The photograph on the album cover was shot by Sherilyn Furneaux (Portrayal Of Guilt) and features exotic dancer Clementine.
The new video for “The Ballad Of Max Wright” was directed by Nathaniel Shannon.
INTERCOURSE vocalist Tarek Ahmed reveals, “I fell into a heavy Alf binge on Tubi and ended up Googling the cast, where I learned Max Wright hated being on the show, mostly due to his being resentful over being a Broadway-caliber thespian who was now most famously known for playing the straight man to a Muppet. To me, it was prime INTERCOURSE song material. Around this time, we also made a shirt with him on it and when I posted it my friend, Nathaniel Shannon, replied to a post of said shirt saying he owns an Alf costume, and we should do a video. Fast forward two years later, and the song is written/recorded, so I just hit him up and told him to run with whatever he wanted. His treatment was Surviving The Game, with Alf, which was cool with us. He nailed the vibe 100% and we couldn’t be happier with the video. The dude who plays Max Wright kills it, total immersion!”
Nothing can prepare you for INTERCOURSE’s “The Ballad Of Max Wright” video, now playing at THIS LOCATION.
“The Ballad Of Max Wright” is also streaming everywhere alongside the prior single, “Running A Cemetery Without A License,” HERE.
How I Fell In Love With The Void will be released on LP with multiple limited variants as well as CD, MC, and digitally on September 12th. Preorders are live at the Brutal Panda store HERE.
Additional previews of the album will drop over the weeks ahead.
How I Fell In Love With The Void Track Listing:
1. The Ballad Of Max Wright
2. Another Song About The Sun
3. Zoloft And Blow
4. Unsuccessfully Attempting To Parse Nightmare From Reality
5. Slightly Less Than A Feeling
6. Cadaver Resume
7. Running A Cemetery Without A License
8. Cryptid Divorce Court
9. I’m Very Tired Please Let Me Die
10. Family Suicide Gun
Additionally, the band has booked a run of US tour dates for September. INTERCOURSE will bulldoze a path through the Central US alongside Nerver on their first run of tour dates surrounding their upcoming album. The tour will begin in Detroit on September 18th and will roll through Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis, Denton, Oklahoma City, Kansas City, St. Louis, and Chicago before ending the trek in Indianapolis on September 27th. See all confirmed dates below and expect further updates to post in the weeks ahead.
INTERCOURSE w/ Nerver:
9/18/2025 Outerlimits Lounge – Detroit, MI
9/19/2025 The Comet – Cincinnati, OH
9/20/2025 Mag Bar – Louisville, KY
9/21/2025 Havenhaus – Memphis, TN
9/22/2025 Rubber Gloves – Denton, TX
9/23/2025 Sanctuary – Oklahoma City, OK
9/24/2025 Howdy – Kansas City, MO
9/25/2025 Heavy Anchor – St. Louis, MO
9/26/2025 Burlington Bar – Chicago, IL
9/27/2025 Black Circle – Indianapolis, IN
“I have no life. I don’t fucking do anything else. I don’t have any hobbies. I don’t play video games. I don’t do fantasy football. I’m just obsessed with making music and writing.”
That’s INTERCOURSE vocalist Tarek Ahmed explaining how the acclaimed Connecticut noise rock band has averaged a release per year since forming in 2013. From their eponymous debut and 2018’s Everything’s Pornography When You’ve Got An Imagination to 2023’s Halo Castration Institute and last year’s Egyptian Democracy EP, INTERCOURSE has kicked against the pricks, power brokers and pissants who make America “great” while tempering their outlook with a self-deprecating look inward.
Which brings us to How I Fell In Love With The Void. Ahmed and his bandmates—guitarist Sean Prior, drummer Caleb Porter and bassist Pete Stroczkowski—spent more time and money on their fourth full-length than any of their previous releases. “Usually, we record in a basement home studio, or they’re done super quickly,” Ahmed says. “This time, we figured it was a really good investment to book a full week of studio time and challenge ourselves to write better songs.”
In fact, Ahmed ended up rewriting his lyrics three times. “I fucking wrote my ass off, and then I do this thing about two months out where I’m like, ‘Everything I wrote sucks, so I’m going to rewrite all the lyrics.’ Then a month before recording, my wife and I decided to split, so I tried to punch up the lyrics and make them funnier by throwing some divorce stuff in there. But I think I made it more depressing.”
Marital bliss aside, the lyrical themes on How I Fell In Love With The Void aren’t dissimilar from those on Intercourse’s 2016 EP, Pissing Into The Abyss, which features a cover illustration of a woman and a giant insect having sex while an alien watches. “On the new record, there’s definitely a lot of talking about the void and that emptiness that a lot of us try to fill with food, booze or sex,” Ahmed explains. “Pissing Into The Abyss was about being so comfortable with the void that you’ll just piss there. Unfortunately, I’m super acquainted with it. But once you realize that nothing will ever fill the void, it will no longer rule over you.”
Ultimately, How I Fell In Love With The Void is about being on the outside looking in. “We’re music for weirdos and freaks,” Ahmed says. “I grew up as the only Egyptian kid in a little white town. I’m an outsider, and we make music for outsiders. Every time we play a faraway place that we haven’t been to before, there’s always one person there that has followed us for years and is there specifically for us. They are always the weirdest person in the room, and I love that. Those are my people.”
INTERCOURSE:
Tarek Ahmed – vocals
Caleb Porter – drums
Sean Prior – guitar
Pete Stroczkowski – bass
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