IDLES tell us about “the end of an era” and working on “more driven” new material

IDLES have spoken to NME about what to expect from their upcoming Bristol homecoming shows, how they mark “the end of an era”, and how they’re already looking to the next one in working on “more driven” new material.

The band’s only UK shows of 2025 will see them take over Bristol’s Queen Square in August, where they’ll be joined by the likes of Soft Play, Lambrini Girls, dubstep DJ and producer Sicaria, The Voidz, Hinds, a range of local DJs, and many more.

“It’s the venn diagram of everything we love,” frontman Joe Talbot told NME of the line-up. “It took me a long time to get the line-up right. We didn’t just want to succumb to availability – we wanted to make it the best it can be. We wanted it to be a beautiful mix of everything we’re into and everything we love. It worked out really well.”

Talbot also described the gigs as “the end of an era and definitely the end of this album campaign” for their acclaimed 2024 Number One ‘TANGK’.

“We’re [eventually] going to come back with a new show, with a new album,” Talbot continued. “These shows are a celebration of everything we’ve got to so far. We want to do it with music we love and people we love in the city we love.”

The singer also promised two very distinct and different headline sets from the band each night. That must make choosing the setlists something of a headache?

“That’s not my problem, that’s [Mark, guitarist] Bowen’s problem, ask him. The poor bastard,” Talbot replied. “It’ll be fun. We change it up every night anyway, but because they’re two shows in the same city, we would never repeat the same set. We’ll try make them as varied and interesting as possible. Maybe we’ll try and make them in line with the DJs and acts we’re playing with. Maybe. I think we could do that.”

Check out our full interview with Talbot below, where he also spoke about celebrating love, speaking up for Palestine amidst the Kneecap situation, progress on their sixth album, and forming a supergroup with The National and Ed Sheeran.

NME: Hello Joe. How have you found your handful of festival shows this summer? Primavera looked pretty special…

Joe Talbot: “It felt incredible, it was beautiful. As expected, as it always is in Barcelona, Primavera has been perfect every time. We’ve always had a good time there. I loved it. I think it comes down to bands that cultivate an incredible live show that’s a balance of violence and good music. You give everything to your audience, and you get it back.”

There are a lot of solo and pop acts dominating line-ups this year. Do you feel like outliers?

“I’ve never cared about other acts in terms of who we’re up against and who we’re next to. I’m not bothered. I watched Jamie xx’s set [at Primavera Sound] and it was incredible. I’m very grateful to share a stage with him again. The line-up was varied and it’s amazing.

“As many, many thousands of musicians have said in the past: trends come in and out. People are starting to pay attention to guitar music again, I guess. You’ve just got to keep your head down and make good music. As far as genre, we came from a school of celebrating everything we love. We love techno, we love hip-hop, we love grime, we love pop, we love soul music, we love folk.

“[Look at] the venn diagram of us and the musicians we’ve started to blend with – like Jamie xx, like LCD Soundsystem, like The National, punk bands and all that. That’s the great thing about festivals these days – it’s a real good mix and it forces fans to listen to other shit.”

Last year The National’s Matt Berninger raised the idea of forming a supergroup with IDLES…

“We tried to make it happen, but Matt can’t afford me! When we’ve got the time to do something, I would fucking kill to get into a room with Matt Berninger. That would be great. Who else was in the supergroup? I remember it was me and Matt, we were in Germany and going to watch someone. Do you remember who else was in it?

Fontaines D.C. and Ed Sheeran were mentioned…

“Ed Sheeran? Oh sick, I’m in. That’s cash in the attic, isn’t it? Ed Sheeran came to see us. I met him recently. He was a nice guy.”

With these victory lap shows approaching, how does it feel to have been living in that mantra on ‘Tangk’ that ‘love is the thing‘ at a time when the world is spewing so much bile and hatred?

“No, the internet has been spewing bile. Our government have been spewing bile for a very long time. It’s been a barrage of hateful acts, greedy acts. It’s based on uber capitalism and it hasn’t changed for decades and decades. The internet is a tiny little window that is hyper-focussed on the insecure. The insecure are always going to sling mud and look for blood, bait fear, bait anger and bait rage.

“Politically there is massive turmoil – but that’s what anti-fascism is about. It’s about empathy. It’s about looking to start a new infrastructure that benefits the people, not the one per cent. It’s always been that way, I’ve always sung about that, it’s always been about love. This isn’t a new mantra of mine, I just changed the words for the album. We’ve always been a band about love.”

“I despise our government now as much as I did when I was 16-years-old. I disagree with Israel’s policy in the Middle East, and what they’ve represented long before October 7, from the moment I learned about it when I was 15. I disagreed with the occupation, I disagree with Britain’s occupation, France’s occupation, Italy’s occupation, Holland’s occupation, America, the list goes on.

“As musicians and artists, there is standing on the fence if your music stands on the fence. If you’re the middle of the road, you stand for nothing. As a musician and an artist, if you go out there and try and connect with the world, that’s an anti-fascist act. You’re at the start of something beautiful, which is connecting with people that you do not understand yet, building something stronger and wanting equality for all. That’s what I grew up on, and the music is always going to be about that because that’s all I’m about. It’s love, and looking for a safe future where everyone has equal opportunities.

“That would never include a fascist Tory government, that would never include an occupation, that would never include mental referendums that just allow people to get picked up and arrested off the street and sent home, or people getting accused of terrorism because they speak up against terrorists.”

You guys signed the letter defending artists’ freedom of expression in the wake of the charges facing Kneecap. How do you feel about the pressure that artists are facing on speaking up for Gaza?

“I’m not concerned. I think the reaction and the mobility of anti-fascists online have already turned the narrative. The people are speaking up and it’s empowering. So much so that the Labour government had to acknowledge the genocide. I think that the court case is a distraction tactic by the right wing press and a lesson in being careful in what you say on stage as they can and will be weaponised. Free Palestine!

“The evil right-wing press found something that would attract the ears of the populace to distract from what’s important. That’s that the numbers are shifting, and people are starting to realise that they’ve been blindsided by a genocide that’s been going on for a very long time. The more we speak out about these things, the more we force the hands of our politicians and media outlets to speak about what’s actually happening. The internet mobilises young people who are out to seek the truth, and that’s a really beautiful thing to see.”

What’s next for IDLES?

“I’m working on lots of music. It’s album time, and lots of other things. Bristol is our first outing. It’s our homecoming show, and the only UK show we’re doing this year. It’s something we’ve been building towards for a very long time.”

And you’ve been back in the studio. How’s the next IDLES record coming along? 

“We’ve recorded a bunch of songs. We’ve got like 10 songs and we’re going to go back and do a bunch more. We’re doing some other projects in between, but we’re going to come back to the album later in the year and get it finished. We’re recording with Kenny [Beats] and Nigel [Godrich] again. It’s really magic, I can’t wait.”

‘TANGK’ felt like it was blowing the doors off for you guys to get as weird as possible. What kind of avenue do you think you’ll go down?

“This album is more driven. That’s all I can say, really. There’s more a drive to it.”

Lyrically, what’s been touching you? 

“Same thing as always: love.”

What can you tell us about the other projects you mentioned?

“We’ve been doing a film project and a computer game project. They are going well. We’ve been working with a composer and doing a score in a studio, which is really cool. I’ve learned a lot, and it’s been really great. It’s been a really busy year, considering I didn’t think it would be busy.”

Will you be having a crazy 2026 as well?

“Oh fuck yeah. We’ve got plenty coming.”

BRISTOL SPECIAL GUESTS @softplayband, @TheVoidz, @Lambrini_Girls, @hindsband, @scalerband, @sicariaonline, Grove, Tash LC and some amazing local DJs will be joining us in @queensquarebris this August.https://t.co/zwoj4AQvHG pic.twitter.com/OpVgT8sfdP

— I D L E S (@idlesband) March 5, 2025

IDLES’ Block Party takes over T Bristol’s Queen Square on Friday August 1 and Saturday August 2. Visit here for tickets and more information.

The post IDLES tell us about “the end of an era” and working on “more driven” new material appeared first on NME.