The Absence of Presence


The Absence of Presence is the sixteenth studio album by American progressive rock band Kansas. The album was originally due to be released on June 26, 2020, but due to manufacturing delays the release date was postponed to July 17, 2020. It is their fourth studio album without founding member, lead vocalist and keyboardist Steve Walsh, who retired from the band in 2014; the other three being 1982's Vinyl Confessions, 1983's Drastic Measures and 2016's The Prelude Implicit. It is their second album with lead vocalist and keyboardist Ronnie Platt and guitarist Zak Rizvi. It is the first album with keyboardist Tom Brislin, who replaced former keyboardist David Manion.
The album serves as a follow up of The Prelude Implicit, and unlike that album, The Absence of Presence was written entirely by the band. The bulk of the songwriting duties were carried out by the band's newest members, Zak Rivzi and Tom Brislin, with other lyric contributions by Ronnie Platt and founding member Phil Ehart. Ehart also came up with the album title, as well as at least three of the song titles, which gave lyricist Tom Brislin a concept to work with. The Absence of Presence marks the debut lead vocal from keyboardist Tom Brislin, making the total number of lead vocalists in the band at three, a feature not seen since Somewhere to Elsewhere. The album's recording sessions took place contemporaneously with the band's tour cycle.
The album was released on CD, vinyl, various colored vinyl, and Blu-Ray with a 5.1 mix. It was the first Kansas studio album mixed in surround sound. It was also released on Blu Spec 2 format in Japan. The album reached the following positions on various Billboard Charts: Album Sales, #10; Current Album Sales, #10; Independent Albums, #32; Rock Albums, #31; Germany Albums, #7.

Track listing

Personnel