Sennen release New Quiet, their first album in over 10 years, on October 30 and are doing Joint Tour With The Early Years – November 2026. It’s a wonderfully warm and fuzzy record, self-recorded by the band but with the end results mixed by James Chapman, aka Maps. It sounds at once fresh but familiar, with the band approaching their music with an uncomplicated honesty.
The London-based four-piece’ familiar influences are still there, but this time the band are leaning into them rather than shying away. “In the past we’ve felt uncomfortable, but you can end up sabotaging a good idea like that,” explains singer/guitarist Rich Kelleway. “On this album, I think we’re feeling a sense of freedom from self-imposed stipulations we’ve put upon ourselves.”
In short, they’re having fun and enjoying being a band again, something that was inspired by putting together an expanded anniversary reissue of their classic debut album Widows in 2021. This certainly explains the slightly wistful atmosphere that pervades New Quiet, a mix of nostalgia and acceptance.
New Quiet opens with ‘I Can See The Future’, a seven-minute early Mercury Rev-inspired monster that uses a repeated piano refrain and big riffs to deal with a sense of underlying existential dread. The following ‘Dig’ comes across like a long-lost indie classic, and according to Larry is about “falling asleep at the wheel and not doing anything about the oncoming head-on collision”.
From here the album title makes sense in a more literal way, with a run of less noisy tracks: ‘Waking Up’ is a breaking up song that comes across like one of the softer moments on Yo La Tengo’s And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out; ‘Birds’ is pastoral post-rock, inspired by a news story about birds predicting disasters; ‘Here It Comes’ is a beautiful Big Star via Teenage Fanclub tune which forms the centrepiece of the record, especially with its repeated “everything will be OK” refrain, which is less a statement of certainty and more an act of faith.
It’s back to the noise for ramshackle anthem of hope ‘Today’s The Day’ and ‘Waves’, a fantastic Feelies meets Sonic Youth hybrid which is once again about the importance of the band and music and trying to find that feeling.
As the feedback fades, the album ends with the reflective ruminations of ‘Something Made Me Think Of You’, which explicitly references the band’s teenage dreams, buying records and shoes and having “Italia ’90 blues”.
LIVE DATES
November 14 – Norwich – The Holloway
November 15 – Coventry – Just Dropped In
November 16 – Leeds – Belgrave Music Hall
November 17 – London – The Social
November 18 – London – The Social
November 19 – Bedford – Esquires
November 20 – Nottingham – Billy Bootleggers
November 21 – Manchester – The Yard
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