Canadian hardcore band COMEBACK KID have released the official music video for “Shedding Season,” featuring guest vocals from SPIRITBOX frontwoman Courtney LaPlante. The track appears on the band’s eighth studio album, Chosen Hell, scheduled for release on November 6, 2026, through SharpTone Records in the United States and Dine Alone Records in Canada.
The collaboration arrives just ahead of the album’s release and is one of two guest appearances featured across its eleven tracks.
“Shedding Season” explores letting go of the past
According to vocalist Andrew Neufeld, “Shedding Season” addresses the decision to move beyond difficult experiences, harmful relationships, and emotional burdens.
The song explores the moment when someone recognizes the need for change and chooses to leave behind circumstances that have negatively affected their life.
Neufeld explained:
“‘Shedding Season’ is about peeling back the stress, drama, and pain that we’ve been carrying on through life with. It’s about the specific or period in life where the decision is made to set ourselves free from harmful weight that we have lived in up until that point.”
The composition features a vocal exchange between Neufeld and LaPlante, with the two performers representing opposing perspectives within the song’s narrative.
Neufeld also discussed the significance of LaPlante’s contribution:
“We were fortunate enough to get Courtney LaPlante from Spiritbox to guest on this song and she crushed it. It is a back and forth, ‘me against you’ type of lyrical narrative between Courtney and I.”
The collaboration combines COMEBACK KID‘s melodic hardcore approach with LaPlante’s contrasting vocal delivery.
Chosen Hell recorded with producer Will Putney
The upcoming album was produced, mixed, and mastered by Will Putney at Graphic Nature Audio in New Jersey.
Putney’s previous credits include KNOCKED LOOSE, GOJIRA, and EVERY TIME I DIE.
Across eleven tracks, Chosen Hell brings together the band’s established hardcore influences with elements of modern metal, punk, and melodic songwriting.
In addition to Courtney LaPlante’s appearance on “Shedding Season,” the record features INCENDIARY vocalist Brendan Garrone on “Yesterday’s Gone.”
The album’s title track examines morality, personal responsibility, and the decisions people continue making even when they recognize the consequences may be harmful.
The record’s artwork also takes an unconventional approach. Rather than relying entirely on a digital illustration, the cover features a physical structure constructed in Melbourne by Australian artist Callum Preston.
More than two decades of hardcore
Formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, COMEBACK KID released their debut album, Turn It Around, in 2003.
The band’s subsequent releases, Wake the Dead (2005) and Broadcasting… (2007), helped establish their presence within the international hardcore scene.
Over the following years, COMEBACK KID continued developing their sound while touring with acts including HATEBREED, SICK OF IT ALL, DROPKICK MURPHYS, BAD RELIGION, PARKWAY DRIVE, RISE AGAINST, and ALEXISONFIRE.
Their more recent releases include Heavy Steps (2022) and the TROUBLE EP (2024).
With Chosen Hell, the band continues exploring the relationship between aggressive hardcore instrumentation and melodic arrangements while maintaining the lyrical themes that have characterized much of their catalog.
Chosen Hell Tracklist
- Target On My Back
- Vindication
- Shedding Season (feat. Courtney LaPlante)
- Lost And Found
- Underneath The Pressure
- Chosen Hell
- Yesterday’s Gone (feat. Brendan Garrone)
- Tunnel Vision
- Becoming
- Heartland Elegy
- Too Late
North American tour begins November 7
COMEBACK KID will begin a North American tour immediately following the album’s release, starting November 7 at Flyover Fest in Oklahoma City.
The November run includes performances in Texas, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, and Colorado.
Supporting acts on selected dates include DEAD HEAT, DEFEATER, THE WARRIORS, FEAR OF LOSS, SLOW PULSE, BARRIO SLAM, and TIME X HEIST.
Additional performances across the United States, Canada, Europe, and the United Kingdom are expected to be announced.
Chosen Hell arrives November 6, 2026, through SharpTone Records and Dine Alone Records. The official video for “Shedding Season,” featuring Courtney LaPlante, is available now.