Antony Szmierek has never been one to stand still. Eighteen months on from his breakout debut, the Manchester-born poet‑turned‑producer returns with Decoding Birdsong, a second album that pushes his sound into widescreen territory while keeping his trademark lyrical precision razor sharp. The record lands 21st August via Mushroom Music / Virgin Music Group and arrives with a cast of collaborators that reflects just how far his world has expanded: Pretty Girl, Los Bitchos, 1‑800 GIRLS, Imogen and the Knife, and rising indie-pop star Ellur all feature.
To mark the announcement, Szmierek has released ‘Chalk’, a sawtoothed, atmospheric electro cut inspired by the Ronnie O’Sullivan documentary The Edge of Everything. It’s a track about marginal gains and chaos theory — the tiny decisions that tip everything one way or another. As he puts it, “chalking a cue makes a marginal difference to the outcome, a metaphor for the win‑or‑lose nature of the music industry.”
Premiered on Lauren Laverne’s BBC 6 Music show, ‘Chalk’ joins recent single ‘The Heron’, a disco‑flecked house track named after Ken, the 1920s taxidermied bird who also graces the album artwork. If Szmierek’s debut was rooted in Greater Manchester’s landmarks and late‑night characters, Decoding Birdsong feels like a step into a bigger, stranger universe.
Szmierek’s rise has been fast and surreal. His 2025 debut Service Station at the End of the Universe catapulted him from English teacher to festival stages, Jools Holland, and sold‑out rooms across the UK and Europe. Earlier this year he closed Solomun’s Alexandra Palace shows in front of 20,000 people, not bad for someone who was still marking assignments not long ago.
But success came with a strange side effect: suddenly everyone knew him. “Some days it felt good; other days it felt like I was in The Truman Show,” he’s said. The solution was a move to Bristol, distance, quiet, and a reset. Decoding Birdsong was built there with long‑time collaborator Max Rad, and you can hear the shift: more space, more colour, more risk.
Where the debut was a largely solo effort, the new album thrives on collaboration. Pretty Girl brings her signature shimmer, Los Bitchos inject their technicolour groove, and Bristol’s own 1‑800 GIRLS adds club‑ready pulse. It’s a record about belief, coincidence, and the strange symbols we cling to when life feels chaotic.
“Decoding Birdsong is about choosing to believe in something,” Szmierek explains. “Coincidence as a religion. Making your own luck in the face of loneliness and doubt… Should you listen to the birds, or are you only ever going to hear what you want to hear?”
Expect herons, dice, plummeting airplanes, late‑night TV gold hunters, and even a fibreglass Godzilla. It’s Antony’s world, surreal, sincere, and always dancing on the edge of something profound.
Fresh from a run of European dates and ahead of his first US shows, Szmierek has announced a UK headline tour for autumn 2026, including major stops at London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town and Manchester Academy. He’ll also join The Streets for a series of summer dates and appear as special guest for John Cooper Clarke at Manchester Apollo in November.
Decodong Birdsong Tracklisting:
Chalk
The Heron
Bookie’s Favourite ft. Ellur
Godzilla Hotel ft. 1-800 GIRLS
Seminal
Flight Simulator ft. Imogen and the Knife
Dave’s Angling Superstore
The First Five Minutes Of Magnolia ft. Pretty Girl
The Same Heron Again
Commune
You’re Not Supposed To Do This Forever
Decoding Birdsong
Aussie Gold Hunters
Decoding Birdsong - album out 21st August - pre-save here
Upcoming Live Dates
USA
07/05 — Schubas, Chicago
09/05 — Baby's All Right, Brooklyn
15/05 — The Echo, Los Angeles
16/05 — Brick & Mortar Music Hall, San Francisco
Europe
27/05 — TRIX, Antwerp
28/05 — Rotondes, Luxembourg
29/05 — Melkweg, Amsterdam
30/05 — Dauwpop Festival, Hellendoorn
UK Festivals & Support Shows
04/07 — Westival, Tenby
10/07 — Castlefield Bowl (w/ The Streets), Manchester
11/07 — Castlefield Bowl (w/ The Streets), Manchester
24/07 — Kirkstall Abbey (w/ The Streets), Leeds
13/08 — Sziget Festival, Budapest
15/08 — Boomtown Festival
21/08 — Rock N Roll Circus (w/ The Streets), Norwich
28/08 — Big Feastival
UK Headline Tour
08/10 — O2 Academy Leeds
09/10 — The Level, Nottingham
11/10 — Cambridge Junction
12/10 — O2 Academy Oxford
14/10 — CHALK, Brighton
15/10 — O2 Forum Kentish Town, London
16/10 — O2 Academy Bournemouth
17/10 — O2 Academy Bristol
20/10 — Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow
21/10 — Newcastle University
23/10 — Manchester Academy
28/10 — The Button Factory, Dublin
Special Guest
21/11 — Manchester Apollo (w/ John Cooper Clarke)