Refused has released "Dawkins Christ", a fervent new song from their highly anticipated new album Freedom. Freedom, which comes out June 26 on Epitaph, is the band's first new album since their iconic 1998 album The Shape of Punk to Come.
 
According to drummer David Sandström:
 
"The title [Dawkins Christ] refers to the famous biologist whose atheist theology has inspired a semi-cult who in turn sees him as a messianic figure, an irony that partly inspired the lyrics. The music draws from the film scores of Hans Zimmer and Ennio Morricone as well as pre-Reign in blood Slayer."
 

Seventeen years ago Refused played their final show, in a basement in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The show was shut down by police in the middle of their final set and days later the band published a manifesto online proclaiming: "Refused is fucking dead". Thus the legacy of Refused was born. Word of mouth of the anti-capitalist, avant-punk band from Sweden that split up in their prime spread until global cult-status was a fact.
 
This spring, in an unexpected turn, Refused announced the release of a new album. Everyone, including their most hardcore fans, was surprised. Although a lot has happened in their absence, to them "Nothing has changed", as Lyxzén screams on Freedom's opening track "Elektra". The next song to be released from the album, "Françafrique", melds the plight of the Congo with a livelier, almost high-life groove, to create a conceptual rock song about European imperialism. The latest track, “Dawkins Christ”, shows us Dennis Lyxzén in a moment of self-reflection “What about me / Got no soul to sell / Refused salvation / Did my time in hell” in the clamour of a near-metal song, more reminiscent of their earlier material.
 
Freedom was produced by Nick Launay. “Elektra” and “366” were produced and co-written by fellow Swede and long-time Refused fan Shellback, who's not only the No. 1 producer on Billboard but the No. 1 song-writer as well.