April 10, 2026 |
Elder Island are entering a new chapter. After experiencing a sense of disillusionment following a series of tour cancellations due to Covid-19 and feeling like they were being pushed in a creative direction that felt inauthentic, the indie-electronica trio took pause for thought following their sophomore album, Swimming Static. Released in 2021, the LP was a meticulous production, combining swelling strings, spacey percussion, complex looping and conceptual lyricism. Yet, the band, comprised of Katy Sargent, Luke Thornton and David Havard, were creatively unsatisfied. When they returned to the studio in 2023 following the release of a remix of Swimming Static boasting features from underground mainstays like Elkka and Batu, the band wanted to get back to their roots. They favoured free-flowing jam sessions, inspired by the sprawling nightlife culture of their native Bristol.
Hello Baby, Okay, their upcoming third studio album, out May 8 via !K7, is what emerged from these experiments. Leaning into spontaneity, the LP is set to establish a new sound for Elder Island, one hinged on feelings of euphoria and liberation. An ode to the power of simplicity, the old design adage K.I.S.S. (“keep it simple, stupid”) was at the forefront of their mind throughout the process. This approach is evident in the latest single to drop from the album entitled Letters. Released on April 8, the track marks the the most downbeat, introspective single on the album, boasting the group’s signature analogue production paired with a subtle groove and emotional resonance distinct to this release. Chugging along like a pleasantly ill-defined road trip, the song draws on science fiction and folkloric imagery to capture the flickering stories one crafts as they study their surroundings out of the window.
Other standouts released so far include the garage-house infused Ordinary Love that explores the need to follow both head and heart in matters of love, and the minimal yet jumpy house track Snapshot, touted as the band’s “first true love song”.
Letters and its counterparts set to follow are armed to reintroduce Elder Island as an outfit that is no longer struggling with self-assurance. It’s an exciting chapter, seeking to reintroduce play into a world that has less and less space to do so. Here, we sat down with Elder Island to chat more about their changing creative process, their favourite memory from recording Hello Baby, Okay and the track they can’t wait to perform live.
1. What’s the story behind Letters?
It’s a roadtrip track. Lyrically, we wanted to evoke snatches of visual imagery…but all as passing scenes as if viewed from a car window. Eye-spy style. The imagery is from a mixture of old folk tales and science fiction novels but seen as if from [the 1998 comedy film] Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, [driving in a] Chevrolet Caprice, [like an] unhinged desert road trip. When we started writing Letters, the theme came synonymously with this chuggy rock drum loop that ‘drove’ the track forward, later joined by the rhodes loop and guitar.
2. How has your creative process changed since releasing Swimming Static in 2021?
Hello Baby, Okay is the first album we recorded after moving to our new studio. Moving out of a basement and into a large, airy space was very freeing. It yielded a more colourful, playful sound. In contrast to Swimming Static, we didn’t want to get lost in overdubbing multiple takes and layers, [so instead we] worked on playing the tracks through live, to refine their structure and sound.
3. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt as a band while recording the record?
K.I.S.S – Keep it simple stupid.
4. What feeling do you want listeners to be left with after hearing Letters?
[Maybe] creative [or] dreamy? Maybe a nostalgia for long car journeys, the ones where you listen to an album over and over. Put it on repeat!
5. What’s your favourite memory from recording the new album?
[There’s] not a specific memory, but our favourite period was probably the earlier stages of the writing process. We had a couple of weeks where the weather was hot and we were recording three sessions a day [and] generating ideas – a lot of those sessions went on to build Hello Baby Okay.
6. What track are you most looking forward to performing live?
We performed two shows in London and Bristol last month to get back into things and played Pink Lemon, Ordinary Love and Snapshot from the new album. We were totally blown away when folks sang them back at us at the top of their lungs. Snapshot had only been out for 2 weeks. That was pretty magical. I guess for future shows, maybe White Corridors from the new album, as it will be relatively simple to recreate!
7. What are three records everyone should listen to at least once?
One from each of us:
Daft Punk – Discovery .
Stevie Wonder – Songs In The Key Of Life.
Caribou – Swim.
8. What’s your ideal Friday night?
Pub, Pizza and Poirot.
9. What’s your funniest memory from performing live?
We once played Glasgow on a Sunday night and had been messing about in soundcheck playing with tempos and had forgotten to change the settings back on one of the tracks. So, when it came to near the end of the show, we were halfway through playing I Fold You and the track shot up to around 180bpm/200bpm, like a hardcore remix, we thought we’d have to restart but the crowd went for it and we raved out the rest of the track.
10. What are you looking forward to in the future?
Getting back out and performing live again. After a few years focusing on the record and resetting life in general we’re excited to get back to it. Touring this record is going to be a lot of fun.
Photography by Nic Kane.
