Following the release of their triumphant comeback single “The Beachland Ballroom” in September, IDLES today release a second song from their highly anticipated fourth album CRAWLER (12th November, Partisan Records).
Just like “The Beachland Ballroom”, “Car Crash” sees the band operating free from constraints and unshackled from any notions of what an IDLES song should sound like. It chronicles frontman Joe Talbot’s own near-fatal experience behind the wheel, one of many stories of trauma, addiction, survival and recovery the band vividly bring to life on CRAWLER
WATCH THE VIDEO CREATED IN COLLABORATION WITH MATTHEW CUSICK
Speaking about the track Talbot says: “It’s the horrific, comedown hangover -- waking up in the morning and realising the smashes, like, what the fuck am I doing with my life?”
Guitarist and co-producer Mark Bowen adds, “We wanted it to be as violent as possible to reflect that event. I really wanted it to be this sonic touchstone. We recorded the drums beforehand and put them on a vinyl acetate. Whenever you replay an acetate, because it is kind of like a liquid, it degrades every time. It touches on things being transient and momentary — even a single drum hit. It’s like a memory, when the moment has passed and you deal with the repercussions over and over again, and they morph and change into something else. It’s one of the first times on an IDLES song where we used proper effects on the vocals -- it was Joe going through my pedal board, so you get both clarity and degradation”
The video, created by Matthew Cusick and edited by IDLES’ Lee Kiernan, was a project that began in 2001. Cusick took a break from painting and began digitally cataloging car chase scenes from 20th century American cinema as an extension of his paintings and map collages. Appropriating footage from as early as the Keystone Cops, Cusick assembled “File on Motor Transgression, 2001-2011” by condensing more than 500 car chases into a navigation of the American landscape throughout cinematic history. On collaborating with IDLES in Cusick’s words: “It is a gut wrenching, symbiotic conclusion to the piece. It has now what it was always missing… a killer soundtrack.”
Arriving on 12th November via Partisan, CRAWLER is IDLES’ fourth album in as many years and the follow-up to their first No. 1, 2020’s Ultra Mono. The 14-track project was recorded at the famed Real World Studios in Bath during the COVID-19 pandemic and co-produced by Kenny Beats (Vince Staples, Slowthai, Freddie Gibbs) and IDLES guitarist Mark Bowen.
It features IDLES’ most soul-stirring music to date among numerous moments that will inspire absolute mayhem in a packed concert venue this autumn, like the warped glam rock of “The Wheel,” the 30-second grindcore slap to the head of “Wizz” and the unhinged, pulverizing bass-and-drum groove of “The New Sensation.” But there are also fresh textures and experiments that push IDLES into thrilling new territory, like the alternate universe marching band anthem “Stockholm Syndrome” and “Progress,” a “mantra of realisation” that soothes both body and mind in a way few IDLES songs ever have before.
PRE-ORDER CRAWLER HERE
Meanwhile, IDLES will celebrate the release of CRAWLER with a recently announced, sold out show at London’s EartH on Thursday 18th November. The intimate show will offer a chance to see the explosive 5-piece perform up close before they begin 2022 with a huge sold out UK tour that included four nights at London’s legendary O2 Academy Brixton.
UK and EU tour dates below with full ticket details HERE
16 JAN 2022 / UK / London / O2 Academy Brixton SOLD OUT
17 JAN 2022 / UK / London / O2 Academy Brixton SOLD OUT
18 JAN 2022 / UK / London / O2 Academy Brixton SOLD OUT
19 JAN 2022 / UK / London / O2 Academy Brixton
21 JAN 2022 / UK / Cardiff / Motorpoint Arena SOLD OUT
22 JAN 2022 / UK / Birmingham / O2 Academy SOLD OUT
24 JAN 2022 / IE / Dublin / Vicar Street SOLD OUT
25 JAN 2022 / IE / Dublin / Vicar Street SOLD OUT
26 JAN 2022 / IE / Dublin / Vicar Street SOLD OUT
28 JAN 2022 / UK / Manchester / O2 Victoria Warehouse SOLD OUT
29 JAN 2022 / UK / Manchester / O2 Victoria Warehouse SOLD OUT
30 JAN 2022 / UK / Manchester / O2 Victoria Warehouse SOLD OUT
01 FEB 2022 / UK / Sheffield / O2 Academy SOLD OUT
02 FEB 2022 / UK / Newcastle / O2 City Hall SOLD OUT
03 FEB 2022 / UK / Glasgow / Barrowland Ballroom SOLD OUT
04 FEB 2022 / UK / Glasgow / Barrowland Ballroom SOLD OUT
05 FEB 2022 / UK / Glasgow / Barrowland Ballroom SOLD OUT
18 FEB 2022 / DE / Hamburg / Docks SOLD OUT
19 FEB 2022 / NE / Amsterdam / Melkweg SOLD OUT
20 FEB 2022 / NE / Amsterdam / Melkweg SOLD OUT
22 FEB 2022 / DE / Berlin / Columbiahalle SOLD OUT
23 FEB 2022 / DE / Cologne / E-Work SOLD OUT
24 FEB 2022 / DE / Munich / Muffathalle SOLD OUT
26 FEB 2022 / BE / Brussels / Ancienne Belgique SOLD OUT
28 FEB 2022 / FR / Paris / Elysee Montmartre SOLD OUT
01 MAR 2022 / FR / Paris / Elysee Montmartre SOLD OUT
02 MAR 2022 / FR / Lyon / Le Transbordeur SOLD OUT
03 MAR 2022 / IT / Milan / Fabrique
06 MAR 2022 / FR / Toulouse / Le Bikini
07 MAR 2022 / ES / Bilbao / Santana
09 MAR 2022 / ES / Barcelona / Razzmatazz
10 MAR 2022 / ES / Madrid / La Riviera
11 MAR 2022 / PT / Lisbon / Coliseum
20 MAR 2022 / AR / Bueno Aires / Lollapalooza
25 MAR 2022 / COL /Bogota / Estéreo Picnic
27 MAR 2022 / BR / Sao Paulo / Lollapalooza Brazil
READ THE CRAWLER BIO HERE
CRAWLER TRACK LIST:
MTT 420 RR
The Wheel
When the Lights Come On
Car Crash
The New Sensation
Stockholm Syndrome
The Beachland Ballroom
Crawl!
Meds
Kelechi
Progress
Wizz
King Snake
The End
Watch IDLES perform live on the Jimmy Kimmel show.