Following the soul-soaked comeback single “The Beachland Ballroom” and the abrasive “Car Crash” today they release a new single “When The Lights Come On”. With its motorik rhythm and propulsive bass lines, the track harks back to the days when frontman and lyricist Joe Talbot would DJ in Bristol clubs until the early hours, chasing the party into the night only to be confronted by the harsh realities that turning the lights on can expose. See Below the Lee Kiernan directed Video.

The band will also embark on a sold-out (bar one date) European tour in the new year. With 4 nights at London’s Brixton Academy, 3 at Manchester’s Victoria Warehouse, and 3 at Glasgow’s iconic Barrowland Ballroom, the tour is set to delight fans with their signature socially aware take on manic aggression. See full ticket information here.

Clearly bored of having downtime, the band have also taken on an excess of extra-curricular activities including remixing St. Vincent’s track “Pay Your Way in Pain”, and working with literal guitar legend Tom Morello (from Rage Against the Machine of course) on a track from his solo outing The Atlas Underground Flood, The Batchelor. They are even choosing to round out the year playing with The Strokes on New Year’s Eve at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

.@IdlesBand put their spin on a @St_Vincent single https://t.co/FTyybyIibv

— Pitchfork (@pitchfork) December 9, 2021

The release of CRAWLER back in November was marked with a show at EartH in Hackney, London. IDLES were insistent on making this a show to remember, giving out records at the end of the show, inviting fans on stage, and clambering into the audience themselves to sing Christmas songs in the middle of November.

Regarding the new single, lead singer, Joe Talbot, explained, “When the lights come on. Our third offering from Crawler. A poem of light and sound exploring the cold light of day. Thank you x”.

 All the dates to their 2022 tour are sold out, the only exception at the moment being the final Brixton Academy date, see below for more details.

 16/01/2022- O2 Academy Brixton- London
17/01- O2 Academy Brixton- London
18/01- O2 Academy Brixton- London
19/01- O2 Academy Brixton- London
21/01- Motorpoint Arena Cardiff- Cardiff
22/01- O2 Academy- Birmingham
24/01- Vicar Street- Dublin
25/01- Vicar Street- Dublin
26/01- Vicar Street- Dublin
28/01- O2 Victoria Warehouse- Manchester
29/01- O2 Victoria Warehouse- Manchester
30/01- O2 Victoria Warehouse- Manchester
01/02- O2 Academy- Sheffield
02/02- O2 City Hall- Newcastle
03/02- Barrowland Ballroom- Glasgow
04/02- Barrowland Ballroom- Glasgow
05/02- Barrowland Ballroom- Glasgow

NEW SINGLE MR. MOTIVATOR IS OUT NOW

LISTEN/WATCH – https://t.co/6pTd7lYPYj#YOUCANDOIT pic.twitter.com/I0P1RSm0h4

— I D L E S (@idlesband) May 19, 2020

The band hinted at the release last Friday (the 15th) with a parodic video posted to their Instagram captioned “GET PHYSICAL WITH DEV!”. Dressed in a fitness 80s get-up over some similarly retro screen-wipes, IDLES bassist Adam “Dev” Devonshire urged viewers to join him on May 19th for an “exclusive workout class”. 

 

 

 

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  GET PHYSICAL WITH DEV! Tuesday 19 May at 7pm BST / 2 pm EST IDLES.LNK.TO/YOUCANDOIT YOU CAN DO IT!   A post shared by I D L E S (@idlesband) on May 15, 2020 at 7:07am PDT

Talbot said of the new single: “We want to start this journey with a means to not only encapsulate the album’s sentiment, but to encourage our audience to dance like no one is watching and plough through these dark times with a two tonne machete of a song and the most beautiful community of scumbags ever assembled. Let’s go. All is love.” You can listen to the song and buy it via Bandcamp here:

“Mr. Motivator” is the first song made available from IDLES’ third album, which is expected to drop later this year. As far back as September 2019 the band have been ramping up the hype by teasing guest appearances. Aside from Bad Seed member Warren Ellis looking likely to feature, the group have been having a very public love affair with up-and-coming hip hop producer Kenny Beats (who has production credits on this new track). 

Funny how all it took was three minutes and 27 seconds for Talbot to become the nation’s new favourite fitness instructor named ‘Joe’. Well, he’s mine at least anyway. Watch the video for “Mr. Motivator” below:

The second of which is a collaboration with Kenny Beats who is fresh off the back of an acclaimed joint album ‘UNLOCKED’ with American rapper Denzel Curry. These new songs do not deviate from his distinct style with his aggressive delivery and brash lyrics shall we say. 

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MAGIC OUT NOW RUN IT UP @KENNYBEATS GOOOO LINK IN BIO

A post shared by slowthai (@slowthai) on May 13, 2020 at 11:16am PDT

‘BB (Bodybag)’ has also had a video released with it which you can watch below. It is a dark video for the darker song. Like his other videos it has his gruesome imagery and is full of film references. Check it out below;

Not one for being quiet, the rapper had come under fire a few months ago for his actions at the MTV Awards which caused a lot of controversy. This left fans wondering about the long term effect this will have on his career, but it seems as though it has had little or no sway over his longevity.

 Last year was a very successful one for Slowthai, as his debut album ‘Nothing Great About Britain’ was released to much critical and commercial success. The album touched upon life in Britain for the working class, racism and much more. It proved his maturity as an artist.

Whether these singles are just to be taken as they are or whether they are part of a wider project rollout is yet to be seen, but all we can take from these is; Slowthai is back and looking stronger than ever.

As the government comes under fire for PPE shortages and the health secretary distorts official figures to save face, two years on that optimism feels naïvely misplaced. Even so, IDLES’ call for positivity in times of hardship has become more vital than ever, something the band took to heart last Friday when they released footage of their entire set at Le Bataclan for free (watch below).

The band spent last week doing daily streams of the show followed by live Q&A sessions with each member. As of Friday (the 1st of May) in an effort to bring comfort to housebound fans, the set was made available via their YouTube channel to view on demand. 

All next week at 19:00 BST we're doing screenings of our Bataclan show on @youtubemusic. Subscribe for info & notifications at https://t.co/aRQkgIwydM.

We'll be doing a live Q&A with @AFGANGAF hero Brian straight after screenings. Ask questions live or comment below x pic.twitter.com/3knymVUPXN

— I D L E S (@idlesband) April 24, 2020

Filmed at the iconic Parisian theatre, the set was the final show in the Bristol outfit’s 2018 world tour and spawned the live album A Beautiful Thing, released in December last year. In the liner notes, Talbot said of the recording:

“Our show at Bataclan was the end of a very long journey for us. On that tour we learnt so much about ourselves, each other and the audiences we have grown with over the past 10 years. That show was nothing short of catharsis and nothing more than love. We love what we do and the people who have carried us here, there was no hiding that at Bataclan and we are so very grateful that the moment was captured in all its glory, love and fatigue. Long live the open minded and long live the moment”

As far back as September 2019, the Bristol outfit have been ramping up anticipation for a follow-up to Joy… by posting shots of the studio on their social media (not to mention teasing appearances from Bad Seeds member Warren Ellis and producer Kenny Beats no less) but as of now, no official announcement of a third album has been made. Good thing we’ve got this to see us through.