Bristol’s noise-making behemoths IDLES have today announced a new album and shared its lead single.
Tangk, the five-piece’s fifth studio set, will be released by Partisan Records on 16 February.
The first single to be released from the album is Dancer, which features backing vocals from James Murphy and Nancy Whang of LCD Soundsystem.
The album was produced by Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Beck), Kenny Beats (who worked on IDLES’ previous album, 2021’s Crawler) and the band’s own Mark Bowen.
IDLES say Tangk – pronounced ‘tank’ with a whiff of the ‘g’ and a reference to the lashing way they imagined the guitars sounding – is their most ambitious and striking record yet. It’s available to pre-order now HERE.
Speaking about the album, lead singer Joe Talbot said: “I needed love. So I made it. I gave love out to the world and it feels like magic. This is our album of gratitude and power. All love songs. All is love.”
Dancer sees Talbot sing about the rapture of a new relationship, but also about the special dynamic between IDLES and their fans, or IDLES and the world at large.
He says: “Dancer is the violence that comes from the pounding heart of the dancefloor and rushes through your body and gives you life from music, from love and from you.”
After playing a surprise set at London’s Village Underground last night, Idles will play Hong Kong and Bangkok as their remaining dates for 2023.
They have announced a run of European dates beginning in February 2024, to tie in with the album’s release. For more information on the dates visit Idlesband.com
