Two years on from the mesmeric Nell’ Ora Blu, their synth-laden soundtrack for an imaginary Giallo movie, orphic Cambridge heavies UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS return with their seventh full-length, Shapes Of Midnight. To celebrate the announcement, the band have unveiled the title track from the album. Listen and purchase from Bandcamp here and watch the artwork video here.
A brilliantly macabre concept album partly inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s The Masque Of The Red Death and the too-real nightmares of our modern age, Shapes Of Midnight refines the group’s ‘Evil Beatles’ sound: a thrilling, expertly composed fusion of eerie harmonies, pop hooks, Thin Lizzy-esque twin-guitar brilliance and the kind of fleet-footed heaviness that’s become their trademark.
Shapes Of Midnight was tracked at Abbey Road Studios – live to analogue tape, natch – in a blessed three-day blitz in the company of storied engineer Chris Bolster, whose previous clients include Phil Spector, Ozzy Osbourne and Paul McCartney. The band employed era-appropriate tech, from antique Neumann mics once breathed upon by the Fabs and the Floyd, to consoles and compressors from the peak era of recorded sound. The mastering, meanwhile, was completed by Grammy-nominated engineer Noel Summerville (The White Stripes, The Clash, My Bloody Valentine).
The album marks a return to the guitar-forward attack of their earlier records, but also an evolution. Their blessed invocation of proto-metal heaviness is gilded by blasts of uncanny melancholic pop, bruising NWOBHM gallop, jazzy textures and complexities, and Krautrock-y cro-magnon synth damage. It’s a deliciously dark listen, for sure; as songwriter Kevin Starrs says, “our albums exist in an alternate universe to our own. They’re all stories that could happen here, but everything’s just a bit ‘off’.”
UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS spent their summer laying waste to festivals such as Sweden Rock, Hellfest and Graspop and will tour North America, the UK and Australia/New Zealand later this year. Further dates across Europe for next year to be announced soon. Find more information here.
UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS
2026 UK TOUR DATES
19/11 – KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton
20/11 – New Century Hall, Manchester
21/11 – The Garage, Glasgow
22/11 – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
24/11 – Trinity, Bristol
25/11 – Engine Rooms, Southampton
27/11 – Concorde 2, Brighton
28/11 – The Adrian Flux Waterfront, Norwich
29/11 – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
BAND MEMBERS
Kevin Starrs – vocals, lead guitar
George Hudson – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Jus Smith – bass
Jon Rice – drums
Rachel Burnett – keys, vocals
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