When IDLES posted this bemusing (if ominous) slo-mo clip on Sunday of a giant ball flying towards a man’s face, they had in fairness given us 48 hours to ready ourselves for whatever was meant by the caption “16 JUNE 2020”. But after their new single debuted on BBC Radio 6 Music this afternoon and pulverised listeners live on air, it now feels like all the time in the world couldn’t have prepared us for what the Bristol band had in store.
TODAY Joe joins @steve_lamacq for a chat on @BBC6Music
TUNE IN BETWEEN 4-7 PM pic.twitter.com/LeeQqeo7ex
— I D L E S (@idlesband) June 16, 2020
“Grounds” is the latest offering from Joe Talbot and co. – a savage call to arms whose snarling guitar licks mimic the frontman’s guttural delivery. “Do you hear that thunder?”, goes the punk threat that’s as menacing as it is timely, “that’s the sound of strength in numbers”. IDLES have been floating around live versions of the track for some time (some fans even guessed from Sunday’s teaser that it was coming) but today saw Talbot premiere an official studio version following an interview on live radio.
Among the cavalcade of trade secrets Talbot let radio host Steve Lamacq in on, was that along with recent single “Mr. Motivator”, “Grounds” is set to appear on the band’s upcoming third album Ultra Mono. As well as Grinderman and Bad Seeds member Warren Ellis (who performs on “Grounds”), Talbot confirmed we can expect guest appearances from The Jesus Lizard’s David Yow, ex-Savages’ frontwoman Jehnny Beth (whose solo debut this month Talbot featured on), and a BBC Radio Presenter who is as yet unidentified.
ULTRA MONO – OUT 25 SEPTEMBER 2020 Visit https://t.co/ilhoFeIsEY to pre-order our new album + exclusive bundles, and get tickets to our three upcoming Livestream performances (29 & 30 August). DO YOU HEAR THAT THUNDER? pic.twitter.com/fwuIxSfBiw — I D L E S (@idlesband) June 16, 2020
Explaining the meaning behind the album’s title, Talbot told Lamacq: “It’s a kind of theory… I coined a term. I wanted this to be as complete as possible as a record, and I thought that coining a term, inventing a phrase that sums it up, would be more than just, you know, like with the last album [2018’s Joy as an Act of Resistance] I just stole something from online. With this album it’s about creating something brand new that is like apex IDLES, apex me, the most we can be.
“That’s the whole premise of the album. It’s to kind of be as present, in the moment as possible, accept who you truly are in the moment and then build something forward and be as loving and as forgiving and as motivated as possible. So that’s where the idea came from, Ultra Mono is like ‘as complete you can be in that moment’. And that’s accepting all the rubbish as well as the positives”. Watch the music video for “Grounds” below:
In normal times, you might expect a new album to have a release party – but the times we live in are hardly normal. Making lemonade from lemons, IDLES announced they would instead be selling tickets for three livestreams of virtual gigs in the run-up to the album’s drop date. Think that sounds underwhelming? Other fans didn’t; demand for tickets was so high, the web traffic made the band’s official site crash.
The strength in numbers has actually maxed out the servers apparently… keep trying and you will get through. Sorry about this and thank you for giving a fuck. X
— I D L E S (@idlesband) June 16, 2020
Ultra Mono will be released on the 25th of September via Partisan Records. Find the album’s tracklist and the dates of the livestream gigs listed below:
LIVESTREAM 1 SAT 29 AUG £10
9PM BST / 4PM EDT / 1PM PDT / 6AM AEST
LIVESTREAM 2 SAT 29 AUG £10
11:45PM BST / 6:45PM EDT / 3:45PM PDT / 8:45AM AEST
LIVESTREAM 3 SUN 30 AUG £10
12PM BST / 7AM EDT / 4AM PDT / 9PM AEST
Ultra Mono Tracklist
- “War”
- “Grounds”
- “Mr. Motivator”
- “Anxiety”
- “Kill Them With Kindness”
- “Model Village”
- “Ne Touche Pas Moi”
- “Carcinogenic”
- “Reigns”
- “The Lover”
- “A Hymn”
- “Danke”
