UK alt-rock band Basement has just announced their highly anticipated new album titled WIRED, their first release in eight years and a reunion with original label Run For Cover Records.

Today, the band — vocalist Andrew Fisher, guitarists Alex Henery and Ronan Crix, bassist Duncan Stewart, and drummer James Fisher — tease Wired with the release of lead singles “WIRED” and “Broken By Design,” which together showcase the album’s dynamic breadth. The title-track is the most urgent they’ve ever sounded, a surefire live staple propelled by needling guitars, a slugging drumbeat, and a skyscraping hook that finds Fisher’s voice in peak form. “Broken By Design” has the opposite temperament: dusky, delicate, bass-led, but still quintessentially Basement in its immediate catchiness and moody character.

Speaking of the singles the band’s Andrew Fisher says, “‘WIRED’ is about how sometimes it feels that we are set up to feel and behave in certain ways beyond our control. That no matter how hard you try to hide it, eventually it will come out - either by choice or by force. This song was almost lost - a few of us were into it, but it sort of lost traction for a bit. Then one day it cropped back up and we put it at the forefront of our minds and it ended up being one of my favourite songs to perform and record.”

He continues, “‘Broken By Design’ is about giving something your absolute best and realising it’s destined to fail. Getting to the other side of the situation, looking back and deciding to do everything differently and feeling grateful for the opportunity to grow. We’ve all done a lot of work on getting better at talking to each other as friends and as band mates. Sometimes that's an easy distinction - or rather, not a distinction at all. Other times, the lines are blurred and we lose track of who we are and why we do this. When I’m singing, ‘let’s go back to the start’ I mean to when we did this purely for fun. For an excuse to see each other, to travel, to be creative, to express ourselves through music. We all feel so lucky to be in a position to still get to do this and this album and this song in particular, is us trying to go back to how it should be.”

Both songs are now streaming below, for a taste of Basement's immersive sound showcaing their meticulous songwriting and cohesive artistic vision. Broken by Design is definitely a new direction for the band, with a lighter more jangly and angular sound similar to bands like Pinback.

RIYL like Superheaven, Citizen, Balance and Composure, Title Fight, Turnover

British alternative rock mainstays Basement have shared another new track off their anticipated new album WIRED. “I Want You To Feel,” leans into producer John Congleton’s lively, unpolished production style and features an anthemic chorus - sonically transporting you to a joyous, sweaty venue floor. WIRED, out May 8th, marks Basement’s first new album in eight years as well as a reunion with their original label Run For Cover Records.

About the song, vocalist Andrew Fisher says, “‘The Way I Feel’ is about standing on the edge of a really important decision, right before you make it. Constantly questioning whether you have the courage to stand up for yourself and fight your side, while at the same time begging for forgiveness and acknowledgement. My tongue is in my cheek quite a lot in this song - you need to decide when I’m saying what I mean or not.I love the simplicity of this song and I love that the intro is the same audio sample that Al made on his loop pedal. I knew from the first time he sent that audio file that this would be a song.” Listen to “I Way I Feel” and watch the video, directed by Kaylinn Duffy below.

On May 8 British alternative rock mainstays Basement will return with WIRED, marking their first new album in over eight years and a reunion with their original label, Run For Cover Records. Boldly defying genre limitations, the record marks a new chapter for the band and is their most authentic and fully realized work to date. Working with producer John Congleton (Death Cab for Cutie, Wallows, Angel Olsen, Sharon Van Etten), Wired is the sound of five friends, who have weathered every high and low without a single lineup change, creating the uncompromising music that first moved them. Today they reveal the final single ahead of WIRED’s release, the dubby and deliriously hooky “Head Alight.”

“What started out as a love song quickly evolved into something a lot more ethereal,” says vocalist Andrew Fisher. “Alex was picking up on what I was saying in a far broader and otherworldly way. He saw it less in a romantic way - a more universal look at the idea of someone’s soul or essence being so powerful and beautiful you can’t look away. This really excited me because it allowed me to get out of my head and focus on something way more abstract and therefore, hopefully more expansive.” Fisher continues, “I hadn’t really approached songwriting like this before and I found it really fulfilling. We were really stuck with this sound - focusing on the guitar leading it, in a very indie rock early 2000s thing. It just never felt right. The more we added, the less I liked it. John stripped everything back and it became so much more powerful.”

Stream the new single below along with the other previously released singles.