Hull’s own bdrmm have never been ones to sit still. Their latest single, ‘Lake Disappointment’, is a big change of pace into new territory.
The band’s shoegaze roots are still tangled in the mix somewhere, but this track is leaner, meaner, and buzzing with a serrated electronic edge. Their new album, Microtonic, lands 28th February via Mogwai’s Rock Action.
They’ve been teasing a shift for a while. First came the hazy, pulsing ‘John on the Ceiling’, then the dreamy, slow-burner ‘Infinity Peaking’.
‘Lake Disappointment’ is something else entirely: it’s heavier, colder, and built for late-night warehouse raves rather than blissed-out shoegaze daydreams. The band’s time supporting Daniel Avery, plus a particularly wild night at Field Day, helped nudge them further into electronic waters, and you can hear that in every tense, flickering synth line.
Ryan Smith calls it the most aggressive and exciting song they’ve ever made. He sent the track to their producer Alex Greaves, and the reaction was instant, it was pure excitement. There’s anger woven into the melancholy, he says, a need to get something out. It’s a fight song, the kind you throw on when the world is pissing you off and you need to stomp it out on a dancefloor.
Then there’s the video (see below). Shot in an abandoned Sheffield warehouse, it finds the band freezing their way through a 12-hour shoot in hospital gowns, creating what Smith describes as a dystopian TV shopping channel under the watchful eye of their fictional corporate overlords at MicroTech. The whole thing left them sick for a week, but, in classic musician logic, it was “worth it.” No pain, no gain, though they’re still waiting for the gain.
Microtonic is shaping up to be bdrmm at their boldest. Across 10 tracks, they’ve brought in guests like Sydney Minsky Sargeant (Working Men’s Club) and Olivesque (Nightbus) while fully embracing the darker, clubbier side of their sound.
Smith says he used to feel boxed in by expectations, but something shifted while writing this record. Now he’s pulling from a wider spectrum – dance music, ambient, more experimental sounds – without worrying about where it fits.
The shoegaze core hasn’t disappeared, but it’s been stretched, twisted, and wired into something bigger. The band’s last album, I Don’t Know, landed to critical acclaim, with Rolling Stone UK calling it a “chaotic, thrilling evolution”, while Brooklyn Vegan said it wasn’t just a solid follow-up, but “miles better than their debut.”
They’re taking it on the road in March, covering the UK and Europe.
bdrmm – Microtonic Tour Dates
- 6th March – Wylam Brewery, Newcastle
- 7th March – The Welly, Hull
- 8th March – Project House, Leeds
- 9th March – Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow
- 11th March – Gorilla, Manchester
- 12th March – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
- 13th March – The Castle & Falcon, Birmingham
- 15th March – Hove Old Market, Brighton
- 16th March – Papillon, Southampton
- 18th March – The Fleece, Bristol
- 19th March – Electric Ballroom, London
- 22nd March – Club Volta, Cologne
- 23rd March – Säälchen, Berlin
- 25th March – Bogen F, Zurich
- 26th March – Santeria Toscana 31, Milan
- 27th March – TPO, Bologna
- 29th March – Trabendo, Paris
- 30th March – Botanique – Orangerie, Brussels
- 31st March – Melkweg OZ, Amsterdam
Tickets are on sale now via bdrmm.co.uk.
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