IDLES Begin Work on New Album Following TANGK Tour

Fresh off their biggest Australian shows to date, IDLES have confirmed they’re deep into recording their sixth studio album.

Front man Joe Talbot says the record will ostensibly be “more driven” than anything they’ve released before.

The UK band wrapped their TANGK tour in Australia earlier this year, playing sold-out venues across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, following their headliner set at Perth Festival. The shows were some of their most charged yet, coming off the back of TANGK hitting Number One in the UK and landing high on several Australian end-of-year lists. That momentum now carries into a new chapter.

Speaking ahead of their only UK shows for 2025, a two-night homecoming at Queen Square in Bristol, Talbot spoke to British magazine NME. There he said that the upcoming shows would mark “the end of an era” and close out the TANGK campaign. “We’re going to come back with a new show, with a new album,” he said. “This album is more driven. That’s all I can say, really.”

The band has already recorded around ten new tracks and will continue sessions later this year, again working with Kenny Beats and Nigel Godrich, both of whom were behind TANGK. No release date has been announced, but new material is expected to land sometime in 2026.

In addition to the album, IDLES are working on a film score and original music for a video game project. Talbot described the process as collaborative and said it’s pushed the band into new creative territory. “It’s been a really busy year, considering I didn’t think it would be busy,” he said.

Fans in Australia got an early taste of the band’s evolving live energy earlier this year, with Talbot and co. leaning into the more expansive, experimental material from TANGK alongside the rawer cuts from earlier records. The upcoming record is expected to build on that tension, pushing their sound further without losing the urgency that first broke them out here.

A return to Australia is likely once the new album cycle begins in full. Because as Talbot says, “Plenty is coming.”