McLusky announce first album in 20 years and return with new single

McLusky press photograph

McLusky have announced their first studio album in 20 years, ‘The World Is Still Here And So Are We’. Listen to a new single below.

In September 2023, the Cardiff post-hardcore band surprised fans by releasing their first material in almost two decades. They returned with four songs at the time, and teased a full reunion record for 2024.

The group then shared the “mindblowing” news that they were recording a new LP last summer, confirming that it would be released at some point in 2025 via indie label Ipecac. “McLusky were a band between 1999 and 2005 and now they are a band again,” they wrote.

Now, the band have officially announced that their long-awaited fourth album will arrive on May 9. Pre-order/pre-save it here.

The 13-track record contains their 2023 singles ‘Unpopular Parts Of A Pig’ and ‘The Digger You Deep’, as well as the cuts ‘Cops And Coppers’, ‘The Competent Horse Thief’ and ‘Chekhov’s Guns’.

McLusky have further previewed the forthcoming project with the new song ‘Way Of The Exploding Dickhead’ – which arrived as part of a two-track single, along with the previously released ‘…Pig’.

In a statement, frontman Andrew Falkous explained: “With a title modelled on/ripped off a formative video game (The Way Of The Exploding Fist on the ZX Spectrum), and lyrics inspired by the huge excitement caused by the surge pricing on tickets to see a band play well in the distance, ‘Way Of The Exploding Dickhead’ is a modern parable, without the parable bit.”

The single is accompanied by a tongue-in-cheek official music video, directed by by Remy Lamont. Tune in above.

A description of the upcoming ‘The World Is Still Here…’ reads: “It’s important to state that ‘The World Is Still Here And So Are We’ is the fourth McLusky album (no qualification being needed).

McLusky – 'The World Is Still Here And So Are We' album cover artwork
McLusky – ‘The World Is Still Here And So Are We’, album cover artwork. CREDIT: Press

“They had an asterisk next to the name for a bit – out of respect for past band members and the precious memorial glue of teenage musical crushes – but fuck that, in for a penny, in for a pound.

It continues: “Lyrically it touches on subjects as rich and as varied as work-it-out-yourself and impenetrable-inside-joke-for-the-band, but one thing is clear, all of the songs have different words.

“All hilarious joking aside, the best songs are about things without being precisely about them. McLusky endorse this sentiment. They positively insist on it.”

The full tracklist is as follows:

‘Unpopular Parts Of A Pig’
‘Cops And Coppers’
‘Way Of The Exploding Dickhead’
‘The Battle Of Los Angelsea’
‘People Person’
‘The Competent Horse Thief’
‘Kafka-esque Novelist Franz Kafka’
‘The Digger You Deep’
‘Autofocus On The Prime Directive’
‘Not All Steeplejacks’
‘Chekhov’s Guns’
‘Juan Party-system’
‘Hate The Polis’

McLusky are set to embark on a UK tour in May. Tickets are on sale now – you can buy yours here.

McLusky’s 2025 UK tour dates are: 

MAY
08 – The Rockin Chair, Wrexham
23 – Gorllia, Manchester 
24 – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
29 – Electric Ballroom, London 
31  – SWX, Bristol

The band formed in 1999 and released three albums – ‘The Difference Between Me And You Is That I’m Not On Fire’, ‘Mclusky Do Dallas’ and ‘My Pain And Sadness Is More Sad And Painful Than Yours’ – before breaking up in 2005. However, they have reformed over the years under several guises

The post McLusky announce first album in 20 years and return with new single appeared first on NME.