Pias news – Bicep announce new album ‘slug’
BICEP ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM 'SLUG' – OUT JANUARY 29TH ON NINJA TUNE

EXPANSIVE CAST OF 'SLUG' COLLABORATORS INCLUDES CLARK, EARTHEATER, GEORGE RILEY, LAUREN DUFFUS, SOARR, SASKIA, KEHINA, KUČKA, SASSY 009, ROWENA FYSX AND MORE


BICEP officially announce their long-awaited new studio album 'SLUG' – out January 29th  2027, on Ninja Tune – an 18-track body of work spanning the full breadth of BICEP's sonic DNA. 'SLUG' is firmly rooted in the unmistakable BICEP sound, while also seeing the duo broaden their musical palette, pushing familiar DNA into new territory. They have also today announced two brand new BICEP LIVE shows to take place in New York and London following the album release next year. The album is being revealed through an unconventional series of three separate three-track single drops, each accompanied by a unique three-part short film that delves into the worlds of free parties, pigeon fanciers, and demolition derbies respectively.

At the heart of 'SLUG' is an invitation to look beyond first impressions. The album's title was inspired by the stark contrast between the land slug most people immediately picture and the extraordinary colours, shapes and intricate forms of their underwater counterparts. Speaking on the idea, BICEP say: "It felt like an amazing metaphor: you think one thing, but actually there's a whole world beyond what you initially perceive."

That sense of contrast runs through the record at a fundamental level. Clean drum patterns were distorted; pristine vocals pushed through analogue processing; soft synths placed against rougher textures. Long-standing BICEP hallmarks of melancholy, euphoria and emotional resonance were pushed further, with opposing sounds and feelings deliberately brought together rather than resolved.

The album brings together an expansive cast of collaborators and contributors from across the musical spectrum. Arriving today alongside the announcement are three distinct new singles, 'Gas / Ultra / Equarium', featuring Lauren Duffus & SOARR ("Gas"), Eartheater & Saskia ("Ultra") and Kehina ("Equarium"). They follow the previous single drop: 'Air / Lemonder / Viper' – which boasts a collaboration with the prolific Warp & Throttle Records artist and electronic producer Clark, as well as vocal contributions from Saskia and SOARR – with the six tracks to date beginning to reveal the breadth of sounds, voices and ideas across 'SLUG'.

Single Drop 2: 'Gas / Ultra / Equarium' Tracklist
1. Gas feat. Lauren Duffus & SOARR
2. Ultra feat. Eartheater & Saskia
3. Equarium feat. Kehina
BICEP | Gas (feat. Lauren Duffus & SOARR) (Official Video)

As with the previous singles, 'Gas / Ultra / Equarium' arrives with its own accompanying visual narrative, told over a three-part short film developed by director Alex Takács (AKA Young Replicant, whose previous work includes Nike, Lorde, Flying Lotus, Bonobo and The xx). The narrative, which runs across all three of the tracks, follows a gang of pigeon fanciers on a heist, exploring themes of connection and freedom against surveillance and confinement. It follows the three-part short film for 'Air / Lemonder / Viper', conceived by Palestinian-American director Ryan Doubiago (CANADA; previous work with J. Cole, M83, Bas and Adidas), which celebrates the uniting spirit of the UK's free party, rave and sound system cultures by following two real UK-based crews across 24 hours from set-up to sun-up.

Speaking about the film, Takács shares: "A while back, I read this article about a very expensive racing pigeon that was stolen in Brussels. It led me into this obsessive world of pigeon breeding, where it's all about bloodlines. The technology to control pigeons in flight is also real. There's a duality and terrible beauty in all that, and it just felt right for these singles."

BICEP add: "When it came to the music videos, we wanted to broaden the themes we were working on in the studio into other media. The films let us take that outside the music itself. Free parties, pigeon fanciers, demolition derbies – they're very different worlds, but they're all niche interests existing outside the mainstream, with their own combinations of beauty, darkness and chaos. There's something about shining a light on those worlds that feels very connected to 'SLUG'."

On 'SLUG' the concept of duality arrived early enough to begin shaping the music itself, becoming a creative principle throughout the writing and production. Elaborating on their process, BICEP share:
"For this album we really wanted to massively broaden what we do. It felt like a new start for us. We wanted to make a much more varied album than our previous ones and push what people might expect BICEP to sound like. We just wanted an album full of surprises and contrast.
We've always played with melancholy in our music and tried to combine feelings of happiness and sadness, but this album brings that into a much more fully realised world... It's about putting conflicting feelings together because they become bigger and richer next to each other."

The album was also shaped by a period of isolation from the usual cycle of touring and new music. After stepping away from the road, BICEP largely logged off, spent considerably less time listening to new releases or going out, and instead immersed themselves in their own studio and archive. The result became less a response to what was happening around them and more, as they describe it, a "conversation with our past selves about what we'd been trying to achieve years ago and how we could finally take those ideas somewhere now."
Returning to old demos and techniques they had experimented with 10 or 15 years earlier, the duo began reassessing ideas they had not previously had the confidence or understanding to fully develop. The objective became to identify what they considered fundamental to the BICEP sound, double down on it and then work out how far it could be pushed.
A move into a new studio helped facilitate that process, with BICEP building a custom vocal booth and embracing a more collaborative approach to the writing process itself. They would bring initial ideas to collaborators, then reshape the tracks in response to what came back, with songs often ending up somewhere very different from where they began. The resulting list of artists featured across 'SLUG' is their most expansive to date, and includes Clark, Eartheater, Lauren Duffus, George Riley, SOARR, Saskia, Kehina, KUČKA, Sassy 009, Rowena Fysx, Julia Kent and Zosia Jagodzinska.
Many of these same themes extend into 'SLUG's visual identity, developed in collaboration with creative director Viktor H, whose portfolio includes work for A24, Rosalía and Stormzy. The artwork distils its ideas into a visual language built around stark contrasts, layering, distortion and flashes of bold colour. Physical processes are deliberately central to the 'SLUG' world. Across photography and design, the project makes use of analogue film, printing, rescanning and other processes capable of introducing imperfection and unpredictability.
"Everything digital can become so clean and clear, and with AI it can be replicated over and over again," says BICEP. "With something like a Polaroid or an original print, there's something in the physical process that makes it feel alive, a depth that gets a bit lost in the digital world when everything is so pristine and clean... There's too much now where you're being fed how you're meant to do things. You have to actively fight to think for yourself these days."

Musically, the album's 18 tracks move between rave, breakbeat, vocal-led material and ambient soundscapes, and BICEP describe 'SLUG' as a record intended to reveal itself differently depending on when, where and how it is heard.

"It's been a journey over the years. A lot of these tracks have been pieced together from bits collected over that time, alongside plenty of new material. We want an album people can listen back to again and again and keep finding new parts within it. It's designed to have left turns, moments that make you think a little more, delve deeper and find your own path within it."

'SLUG' Tracklist
1. Gas (feat. Lauren Duffus & SOARR)
2. Air (feat. SOARR)
3. 777 (feat. Eartheater)
4. Lemonder
5. Ultra (feat. Eartheater & Saskia)
6. Cielo
7. BICEP & Clark – Edmeno
8. Pole II (feat. Kehina)
9. Equarium (feat. Kehina)
10. BICEP & Clark – Viper (feat. Saskia)
11. Curb (feat. George Riley & KUČKA)
12. Horses
13. Janus (feat. Sassy 009)
14. Lamb (feat. Rowena Fysx)
15. Honda
16. Xy
17. Rose (feat. Kehina)
18. Tides (feat. SOARR)

The release of 'SLUG' marks BICEP's first album since their acclaimed 2021 'Isles', which reached #2 on the UK Albums Chart, and earned the duo multiple BRIT Award nominations for Best British Group and Breakthrough Act.

Anticipation for the announcement of 'SLUG' has been building following a series of teasers including an intimate pop-up at Brooklyn's Signal where attendees were gifted USBs containing early previews of unreleased music, and a takeover at The Lot Radio, during which they unveiled a wealth of new material. Earlier this month, fans were also invited into the world of 'SLUG' through a bespoke fanzine featuring interviews, archival content, and hidden QR codes linking to exclusive material, while rave-style posters appeared across London, Manchester, Brighton, Glasgow and Ireland. Further new music was previewed at Making Time Festival and during a secret Draaimolen appearance over the summer.

This November, their renowned BICEP LIVE experience returns after a three-year hiatus with a sold-out show at London's Royal Albert Hall. The duo will also return to Australia for two DJ/AV shows, headlining Sydney's Hordern Pavilion (October 31st), and Melbourne's The Underpass (November 1st & 2nd).

BICEP Tour Dates

07.04.27 - Snowbombing, Mayerhoffen AT
04.06.27 - Primavera Festival, Barcelona ES

'SLUG' follows 2025's collaborative soundtrack 'TAKKUUK' – created with visual artist Zak Norman and filmmaker Charlie Miller, and spotlighting Indigenous vocalists from across the Arctic region – while their acclaimed 'CHROMA' project brought together a record label and a series of curated events throughout 2024/25. Built around an ethos spanning everything "from Acid to Alkaline", CHROMA provided a home for the duo's more underground, club-focused productions while offering a platform for the broader reaches of their musical output. Its accompanying AV/DJ tour spanned 70 dates worldwide, including appearances at Glastonbury, Parklife, Coachella and Wilderness Festival, alongside sold-out takeovers of London's Finsbury Park, Brighton Beach and two consecutive BICEP takeovers of London's 15k-capacity Drumsheds.
Beyond their musical accolades, BICEP have also served as ambassadors for UK music charity Youth Music since 2019, helping raise awareness around the importance of accessible music education and opportunities for young people.

LIVE 2021 Bicep - Warme innemendheid en prikkelende dance in visuele diepgang

Website: https://www.bicepmusic.com/