We Speak Rock

Hull’s Deadset release cacophonous new noise-rock single “Bleak”

Published

3 years ago

October 27, 2023

Don Reed

A group portrait of four young people, three of them wearing sunglasses, posing in front of a graffiti-covered wall at night.

Deadset were formed just last year, originally a product of guitarist James Massey and vocalist Sam Mellors, who discovered a genuine bond over writing together. Their sound was moulded into a more claustrophobic, gritty and tense direction when bassist Adam Arnold and drummer Rio Campbell joined, taking the classic indie sensibilities of the two original members into harsher new territories.

Deadset truly came to life when the band wrote as a group and embraced each other’s musical preferences, their influences now relying to an extent on alternative 80s and 90s bands. Influences being taken from bands such as New Order, Fontaines DC and Interpol. Striving to be ever more progressive and unique, the band’s live sound is renowned for fluctuating between genres. Chorus laden and loaded with fuzz and grit.

New Deadset single “Bleak” encapsulates why Deadset is a band and what they want to achieve from it. The track, which was produced by Pat Pretorious (The Talks, Life, Counting Coins) and mastered by Howie Weinberg (Nirvana, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Daft Punk), really feels like it is humming with the anxiety and fever that everyone feels around Hull. It’s both a commentary on what they see and how they feel, looking at the social issues the band see in the area and how that’s impacted and twisted their lives. ‘We all want something to believe in’ is a feeling that resides in every member of Deadset. All feeling at times as if they’re stuck in a rut. Deadset being their opportunity to escape that rut.

“There’s a really prevalent mutual feeling about the area we all live in. Its rife with boredom and it feels like everyone’s stuck in mundane, monotonous cycles here”, says Sam Mellors. “Most people fall into traps of binge drinking or substance abuse to get away from it. It’s really hard not to fall into that trap when there’s genuinely nothing else to do. There’s still a great community of people here, everyone trying to make it a special place and it will always be a special place to us. But it’s still difficult to get away from the fact a lot of people are struggling”, he further explains. “Deadset became a band because we wanted to escape that cycle, dream of something better and create new horizons for ourselves. It’s our own escape from the depressing reality around here”, adds Adam Arnold.

“Bleak” is out 27^th October via Man Demolish Records.

Catch Deadset playing the following live dates:

13th October- The Fulford Arms, York // Soundspheremag Showcase

14th October- Divehu5, Hull // Soundspheremag Showcase

29^th October- The Adelphi, Hull // Twisted Nipple Events

28th November- Polar Bear Music Club, Hull // The Sesh

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We Speak Rock

Queens of the Stone Age Embrace Imperfection on New Album Perfecth

Published

22 hours ago

November 1, 2026

We Speak Media

Queens of the Stone Age. Photo via @queensofthestoneage.

Queens of the Stone Age have released Perfecth, their ninth studio album, out now through Matador Records. The album arrived on October 30, 2026, and its title is the thesis: the word perfect with a flaw deliberately built in, reflecting Josh Homme’s view that perfection is ultimately unattainable.

The nine track record was produced by Homme with bassist Michael Shuman and recorded during sessions in New Orleans and Los Angeles. Its songs explore different forms of love, loss and recovery, and the band chased spontaneity in the studio: Insignificant Other, the album’s centerpiece and second single, was captured in only two takes, preserving the live charge of Homme, Troy Van Leeuwen, Shuman, Dean Fertita and Jon Theodore playing in a room. The first preview, Easy Street, features Nikki Lane. The full tracklist runs It’s Only Love, Where The Goth Girls At?, Mono, From the Cliff, Sunday, Easy Street, Phantom Limb, Run Away From The Mob and Insignificant Other. The album is available digitally and on CD and vinyl, with a limited deluxe edition offering additional packaging and artwork.

The release extends a huge year on the road. The band returned in September for North American stadium dates with Foo Fighters and plays a sold out Laugardalshöll in Iceland during release week, with headline performances ahead in Japan, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, and a Perfecth World Tour now rolling out. Perfecth is streaming now. Nine albums in, the band still sounds like nobody else on earth, and that refusal to sand down the edges is exactly the point.