This summer’s welcome return of Scottish alternative rock band Idlewild is in full flow, with their self-titled album landing on October 3rd via V2 Records.
It is their first since 2019, and the latest taste of what to expect landed yesterday in the shape of new single ‘Like I Had Before’.
It follows lead single ‘Stay Out Of Place’, which premiered on Steve Lamacq’s BBC 6 Music show, and follow-up track ‘It’s Not The First Time’.
Roddy Woomble (lead vocalist) commented: “Songs can transmit what they have received with a peculiar force, a force which drives communication deep into the listeners mind.
“Sometimes I’m asked – which one of your albums is your favourite? This one, or the next one is what I reply.”
The new song may be familiar to fans as the it was performed live in July, directed by Oscar Sansom at Leith Theatre.
Like the rest of the band’s 10th studio album, the track was produced and mixed by Rod Jones and was written throughout 2024 at Post Electric Studios in Edinburgh and the Isle of Iona Library in the Hebrides.
Roddy continues: “We’re looking back without being nostalgic — we were thinking about all the songs we’d made and the new songs we were making.
“For the first time we were referencing ourselves, not in a nostalgic way, in a positive, creative way, realising that we had a ‘sound’ and the songs we were writing should celebrate that.
“After it was all recorded and done, it felt fitting to simply title it ‘Idlewild’.”
‘Idlewild’ will be released on CD, standard black LP and two different limited colour vinyl editions.
Pre-order the new album HERE. Listen to ‘Like I Had Before’ HERE.
The band have also announced a run of in stores and out store shows for October in support of the new album in addition to dates later that month.
Catch Idlewild live on the following dates:
September
13th – Black Isle Calling, Inverness
October
3rd – Circuit, Kingston ~
4th – The Dome, London ~ ^
5th – Cavern Club, Liverpool ~
7th – St Luke’s, Glasgow ~
8th – Liquid Room, Edinburgh ~
10th – Boilershop, Newcastle ~
11th – Project House, Leeds (SOLD OUT)
12th – Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton
14th – The Junction, Cambridge (SOLD OUT)
15th – O2 Academy, Bristol
17th – Koko, London (SOLD OUT)
18th – New Century Hall, Manchester (SOLD OUT)
December
5th – Beach Ballroom, Aberdeen (SOLD OUT)
6th – LiveHouse, Dundee
7th – Barrowland, Glasgow (SOLD OUT)
January (2026)
2nd – 5th – Rockaway Beach, Bognor Regis
~ instore / outstore show
^ also includes a day-time signing at Rough Trade East
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