Bdrmm have announced their third album ‘Microtonic’ with a new single, ‘John On The Ceiling’, and shared details of a 2025 UK and European tour. Find all the details below.
- READ MORE: Bdrmm – ‘I Don’t Know’ review: Hull rockers remain on red-hot form
The Hull-based shoegaze band are due to release their next studio record – the follow-up to 2023’s ‘I Don’t Know’ – on February 28 via Mogwai’s label Rock Action. Pre-order/pre-save here.
Speaking about the group’s glitchy and atmospheric latest track, singer/guitarist Ryan Smith explained: “The themes surrounding ‘John On The Ceiling’ are that of confusion and doubt.
“When something ends and another starts, you lure yourself into a false sense of security that the mistakes made won’t happen again. This happens over and over until you are paralysed in limbo. Can people ever truly change?”
Recorded with Bdrmm’s long-term collaborator Alex Greaves, the 10-song ‘Microtonic’ features guest appearances from Sydney Minsky Sargeant (Working Men’s Club) and Olivesque (Nightbus).
The forthcoming LP is described as “a bold leap for the group, who have embraced a fuller spectrum of tones and atmospheres”.
“I felt very constrained writing a certain type of music to fit the genre [we were known for] but something lifted and I felt more free to create what I want,” said Smith.
“And what I seem to be doing at the moment is a lot of electronic music – taking influence from different spans of electronica, from dance music to ambient and more experimental sources.”
‘Microtonic’ will still represent Bdrmm’s “trademark sound”, per a press release, “but those guitars are now incorporated into a broader, more expansive and varied sonic palette”. A full tracklist has not yet been shared.
Bdrmm are set to showcase their new album on a UK and Ireland headline tour next spring. The trek will include a performance at the Electric Ballroom in Camden Town, London on March 19.
Tickets for all dates go on general sale at 10am GMT this Friday (November 15) – you’ll be able to buy yours here.
Bdrmm’s 2025 UK and European tour dates are
MARCH
06 – Wylam Brewery, Newcastle UK
07 – The Welly, Hull UK
08 – Project House, Leeds UK
09 – Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow UK
11 – Gorilla, Manchester UK
12 – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham UK
13 – The Castle & Falcon, Birmingham UK
15 – Hove Old Market, Brighton UK
16 – Papillon, Southampton UK
18 – The Fleece, Bristol UK
19 – Electric Ballroom, London UK
22 – Club Volta, Cologne GE
23 – Säälchen, Berlin GE
25 – Bogen F, Zurich SWI
26 – Santeria Toscana 31, Milan IT
27 – TPO, Bologna IT
29 – Trabeno, Paris FR
30 – Botanique – Orangerie, Brussels BE
31 – Melkweg OZ, Amsterdam NL
Back in February, Bdrmm released the single ‘Standard Tuning’ – which was “about loss and a tribute to old friends”. The song was recorded during the group’s studio sessions for ‘I Don’t Know’.
During an interview with NME in June 2023, Bdrmm talked about straying into a more electronic territory on ‘I Don’t Know’.
“We’ve got the confidence to try new things out now,” said bassist Jordan Smith. “On this second album, the best part about it was having the first under our belt with a certain sound, it was a launch pad for thinking about where we wanted to go next and what ideas we wanted to get across. I think also partly the fact we’re able to afford more instruments now.”
Guitarist Joe Vickers added: “This record is us having the confidence to delve deeper into the music that we love. It is a cliché that we’ve put the guitars down, but I struggle playing the same things over and over again, like krautrock riffs, it bores me and if I am then everyone else is.”
In a four-star review of ‘I Don’t Know’, NME wrote: “This is a special record by a band who are not-so-quietly raising the bar for the whole British scene.”
