A keyboard melody buried for nearly three decades has been given new flesh and blood. On September 28th, Placebo kicked off their 30th anniversary tour at Super Bock Arena in Porto, Portugal, while simultaneously dropping the new single "Helen Keller"—a track built on the bones of "H.K. Farewell," a hidden instrumental from their 1996 self-titled debut era that never officially saw the light of day.
"Helen Keller" was recorded in London earlier this year, produced by Placebo themselves alongside Adam Noble, who also handled the mix. The ghostly atmosphere of the original "H.K. Farewell" has been preserved, but the whole track has been pushed toward heavier, more anguished rock territory. Frontman Brian Molko explained: "It's a new rock song inspired by the piano melody of 'H.K. Farewell,' named after one of my favorite historical figures." The Helen Keller he's referring to is, of course, the historical figure who was blind and deaf from early childhood and went on to become a celebrated American author and disability rights advocate.
This single continues the string of moves the band has made throughout this year surrounding the 30th anniversary of their debut album. Back in June, Molko and Stefan Olsdal returned to the original master tapes, reworking all 10 tracks from the 1996 album—along with "Drowning By Numbers" and "H.K. Farewell"—to complete a project called *Placebo RE*. The band describes it as a "director's cut," with the idea being to infuse three decades of live performance experience back into the recordings while staying true to the spirit of the originals. Ahead of this, they'd already teased the project with reworked versions of "Bruise Pristine" and "Lady Of The Flowers."
The Porto opening show will feature only tracks from 1996's *Placebo* and 1998's *Without You I'm Nothing*, including some songs that haven't been played live in over twenty years. The tour will continue across multiple European stops before arriving in the UK and Ireland in late November through early December, passing through Nottingham, Glasgow, Dublin, Manchester, London, and Cardiff. The band's most recent album of new original material remains 2022's *Never Let Me Go*.
