Divorce have finally dropped their debut album, Drive to Goldenhammer, and it’s understandably turning heads, cementing the Nottingham quartet as one of the most compelling new bands in the UK.
The buzz is justified. Critics are already throwing around phrases like “album of the year contender” (Clash), “heroic” (MOJO), and “unique and wonderful” (The Sun). The Dork review sums it up best: “a trip planned with obsessive detail that still manages to find adventure at every turn.”
“As Divorce, an ethos of ours is to lean on the subconscious for creative decision-making,” they explain. “This album is an active effort to not overthink, to try to be as true to ourselves as we possibly could. Drive to Goldenhammer is about moving, trundling towards an unseeable and intangible goal, but finding life happening to you along that road.”
New video for ‘Lord’ drops
If the record wasn’t enough, Divorce have also unleashed a new video for ‘Lord’. Co-vocalist and guitarist Tiger Cohen-Towell says the track plays with the idea of desire, but not in a conventional way.
“A seahorse is so vulnerable and strange, so cute and also bizarre. It felt like the right imagery for Lord somehow,” she explains. “The song ‘Pencil Skirt’ by Pulp was a lyrical inspiration; it’s an unusual expression of sexual desire, but it has a bit of a pantomime villain vibe. I didn’t necessarily want the lyrics to come across as villainous but instead slightly pathetic.
“I just wanted to write about how much you regress to a teenage mindset when you fancy someone, no matter how old you are. I think it’s funny. It actually turned into one of the most sonically joyful tracks on the album, which is pretty funny, too.”
Watch the video below.
Touring & in-stores: catch Divorce live
Divorce are taking Drive to Goldenhammer on the road, with UK in-store performances happening right now and a full UK/EU tour kicking off later this month. Some dates are already sold out, so if you’re keen to see them in a venue near you, move fast.
UK instore performances 2025:
- Mar 06 – Resident Music, Brighton
- Mar 07 – Jumbo Records, Leeds
- Mar 08 – Wax & Beans, Manchester
- Mar 10 – Rough Trade, Nottingham
- Mar 11 – Rough Trade, Bristol
- Mar 12 – Bear Tree Records, Sheffield
- Mar 13 – Rough Trade East, London
UK & Ireland headline tour dates 2025:
- Mar 27 – The Bullingdon, Oxford
- Mar 28 – Strange Brew, Bristol – SOLD OUT
- Mar 29 – The Castle & Falcon, Birmingham
- Mar 31 – Ulster Sports Club, Belfast
- Apr 01 – The Workman’s Club, Dublin
- Apr 03 – Gorilla, Manchester
- Apr 04 – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds – SOLD OUT
- Apr 05 – Stereo, Glasgow – SOLD OUT
- Apr 08 – Chalk, Brighton
- Apr 09 – KOKO, London
Tickets are available via the band’s website.
A debut worth the hype
It’s been a whirlwind couple of years for Divorce. Since forming in 2021, Tiger Cohen-Towell, Felix Mackenzie-Barrow, Adam Peter Smith, and Kasper Sandstrøm have been steadily making a name for themselves with their genre-hopping sound. Early singles turned heads, leading to a deal with Gravity Records (Universal) and support slots with Bombay Bicycle Club, The Vaccines, and Everything Everything.
Now, with Drive to Goldenhammer, they’ve gone full throttle. Written across four seasons at a rural North Yorkshire retreat and brought to life with Catherine Marks (boygenius, Foals, Wolf Alice) at Real World Studios, the album feels lived-in, full of warmth, humour, and existential pondering.
“We’re very proud of Drive to Goldenhammer,” says Tiger. “We got to make an album the way we wanted to, kept the weird parts in, followed the warmth, and didn’t overthink it. This album pays homage to seeking place and home, one of the great human levellers.
“And to Goldenhammer, you are a reason to keep driving. We will find you again and again.”
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