Inspiral Carpets announce Burn Like The Sun – their first studio album in 12 years, out January 29th, 2027 via Scruff of the Neck Records.
The band have unveiled a special announcement video, narrated by Professor Brian Cox – a connection that stretches back to the vibrant Oldham music scene of the late 1980s, when Cox performed keyboards with local rock band Dare. Sharing roots in both music and a fascination with space exploration inspired by the Apollo era, the collaboration brings together two worlds that have long intersected through the band’s music.
Inspiral Carpets’ iconic track ‘Saturn 5’ has remained closely associated with themes of space discovery and has held a personal significance for Cox and his family over the years. The reunion also echoes the band’s historic relationship with the space community, following NASA’s invitation to film the ‘Saturn 5’ video at the Johnson Space Center in Houston in 1993, making Cox’s participation in the new campaign a particularly fitting full-circle moment.
First single ‘Drag The Bag’, produced by Jagz Kooner (Primal Scream, Oasis, Kasabian), arrived last week to much excitement and with open arms – a track that captures the classic immediacy of Inspiral Carpets while sounding completely of the present – listen here.
Recorded at Blueprint Studios in Manchester, Burn Like The Sun arrives 43 years into the band’s story, not as a nostalgia exercise, but as the sound of a group still evolving, still ambitious and still creatively driven.
The album marks a major new chapter for Inspiral Carpets following a period shaped by loss, reflection and renewal. After the death of drummer Craig Gill in 2016 and an extended hiatus that at times left the future of the band uncertain, the return to writing and recording became something deeper than simply making another record. What emerged is an album rooted in endurance, connection and forward motion.
The band approached Burn Like The Sun determined to create something fresh, relevant and emotionally honest – a record that acknowledges their history without being defined by it. The album’s cosmic title became the project’s defining identity early in the writing process. Drawing on imagery of light, darkness, distance and rebirth, Burn Like The Sun reflects a band continuing to move forward through changing times rather than standing still. Themes of truth, grief, love, responsibility, hope and perseverance run throughout the songs.
Crucially, Burn Like The Sun is not framed as a comeback. Inspiral Carpets are not returning to a previous moment – they are continuing a journey. Few bands navigate multiple eras, personal tragedy, cultural shifts and four decades of music history while still arriving with something this cohesive, vital and purposeful.
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