Bent Knee is an American art rock band formed in
Boston,
Massachusetts, in 2009. The band performs in multiple genres and draws from multiple influences, including
pop,
industrial rock,
progressive rock[2] and
avant-garde. The band is known for unpredictable dynamic contrast and the wide vocal range of its singer, Courtney Swain.[3]
Bent Knee was formed at the
Berklee College of Music in 2009, when the guitarist Ben Levin and the vocalist Courtney Swain began writing music together.[11] The band's name is a compound of the founders' names ("Ben" + "[Cour]tney").
The band self-released its first LP, Bent Knee, in 2011, and self-released a follow-up, Shiny Eyed Babies, in 2014.[12] In late 2015, the band was signed to Cuneiform Records, an American independent record label,[13] on which Say So was released in 2016.[14] In April 2017, the band was signed by Inside Out Music for the release of a fourth album, Land Animal, which was released June 23, 2017.[15] A fifth album, You Know What They Mean, was released in October 2019 also by Inside Out Music.[citation needed] In November 2021, a sixth album, Frosting, was released by
Take This To Heart Records.[16]
An early mix of the song "These Hands" from the album Land Animal was used as free content for Rock Band 4 Rivals in March 2017.[17]
In May 2022, it was announced that Ben Levin and Jessica Kion would leave the band.[18]
Members
Courtney Swain – lead vocals, keyboards, bass guitar