Product description

Idlewild's self-titled tenth album begins in medias res, with Rod Jones's screeching and wailing guitar hanging in the air until singer Roddy Woomble picks it up with the first of the sizzling, inimitable hooks of "Stay Out of Place." Immediately, you get the sense that the band is in motion, their storied past not serving as an anchor but as a driving force. The songs on "Idlewild" offer a series of compelling answers: "Everything comes together in the present moment, doesn't it?" Woomble asks. Idlewild have been many different things. They were a teen punk band, delivering sawing riffs and spiky choruses, before becoming one of the most convincing mainstream rock groups of their generation. With 2019's "Interview Music," they made sprawling art-pop.

On "Idlewild," they welcome each of these past selves into the room. Originally, work on the follow-up to "Interview Music" was supposed to begin immediately after the end of the tour, but the pandemic intervened. The 20th-anniversary tour of "The Remote Part" in 2022 was a vivid reminder of where they had been and an inspiration for what might come next. They compiled songs that celebrated pop hooks and vibrant distortions, as well as expressive interplay. The songwriting continued at Post Electric Studio in Edinburgh and the Isle of Iona Library before a short, intense recording session in early 2025. The result is a lean, focused document—10 tracks that come and go within 30 minutes. With Jones as engineer and mixer, the production reflects a collaborative, in-house approach. “We looked inward… and realized we have a ‘sound’,” says Woomble. Idlewild are looking forward, not back, capturing the beauty, nuances, and clarity of three decades of sound and feeling – spontaneous, purposeful, and unmistakable.

Tracklisting LP Stay Out Of Place Like I Had Before It's Not The First Time (I Can't Help) Back Then You Found Me The Mirror Still Make It Happen I Wish I Wrote It Down Permanent Colors Writers Of The Present Time End With Sunrise

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