walt disco have announced details of their much-anticipated, self-titled third album, walt disco. Released on October 2nd, the record launches alongside brand new single and video ‘Lies’, having been teased recently by another thrilling highlight, ‘Coup de foudre’ – which was recently playlisted on 6Music, following the band’s intimate UK headline tour.
No mere rebirth, walt disco is something harder won: theirs is a continuation, which turns doubt, evolving personal identities and the turmoil of your twenties into art worth living. With a palette ranging from Smashing Pumpkins and Yeah Yeah Yeahs to Cocteau Twins, the album sees walt disco turn years’ worth of graft to their artistic advantage; songs grapple with the disorientation of growing up (amidst gender dysphoria, changing relationships, a volatile industry) but eventually land in a place of gratitude and acceptance. walt disco is the kind of fearlessly ambitious, alt-rock opus that could come from no other group. The irony of ending up with a self-titled album – a band name they almost walked away from entirely – is lost on none of them.
News of the record is partnered with walt disco’s new single, ‘Lies’. Amidst its sparkling guitars and soaring chorus, ‘Lies’ is a deceptively bittersweet portrayal of doubt, questioning whether our illusion of everyday stability is in fact preferable than the reality. As true to Jocelyn’s struggles with self-worth as a trans person as it is of creatives putting on a brave face (“I’ll fake it ‘til I break it”), the single is accompanied by a video influenced by found-footage horror and was filmed in Glasgow’s seminal DIY night club and Arts space, EXIT. Amidst the ‘Lies’ we tell ourselves, walt disco’s rawly honest songwriting and sonic sophistication has ultimately resulted in the young band’s most empowering work to date.
It’s a point that walt disco have – in their own unpredictable way – always been working towards. Their debut album, Unlearning, was released in 2022, scoring enormous buzz and award nominations (including Best Independent Album at the AIM Awards). Touring took them from the likes of Glastonbury and SXSW to support slots in arenas around the world, alongside cultural co-signs from Charles Jeffrey and Louboutin. On the band’s second album, The Warping, walt disco felt as if they’d lost momentum, and were at a crossroads in their lives and careers. Yet giving voice to such anxieties has undeniably shifted something in the five-piece: the album’s first single, ‘Coup de foudre’, is an exhilarating and unexpected jolt of 2000s dancefloor intensity, both lustful in energy and liberated in spirit.
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