SERJ TANKIAN Paints Grim Picture With 'Sky Is Over'

The Pulse of Radio reports: SYSTEM OF A DOWN vocalist Serj Tankian has issued "Sky is Over" as the second single from his debut solo album, "Elect the Dead". Although Tankian doesn't say straight out what the song is about, he did tell The Pulse of Radio that it comes from both his childhood memories and his concerns about the planet. "I've always thought of the sky as, like, an open canvas," he said. "When I was a kid and I looked at the sky, I always remember being able to daydream, just looking at the sky, being creative, being able to design things. What would happen if we had no sky? Where would we be? Well, obviously, scientifically, without an atmosphere, we'd all be dead."

Tankian recently shot and premiered a video for "Sky is Over".

"Elect the Dead" made the "long list" of finalists for this year's Shortlist Prize, which is awarded to an album that has sold less than 500,000 copies. The winner will be announced in the spring.

"Elect the Dead" came out in late October and landed at Number Four on the Billboard album chart.

Tankian will join FOO FIGHTERS on a portion of their upcoming North American tour, beginning on February 18 in Worcester, Massachusetts and ending on March 6 in Los Angeles.

The singer will also perform several headlining dates before joining up with the FOO FIGHTERS tour. Newly confirmed shows are:

Feb. 11 - Atlanta, GA - Roxy Theatre
Feb. 12 - Charlotte, NC - Amos'Southend
Feb. 13 - Richmond, VA - Toad's Place
Feb. 15 - Norfolk, VA - The Norva
Feb. 16 - Baltimore, MD - Rams Head Live!

Serj Tankian performing "Sky is Over" live at Almost Acoustic Christmas: