Static Dress

Injury Episode is the sophomore full-length from Leeds quartet Static Dress, released May 29, 2026 on Sumerian Records. Produced by Erik Bickerstaffe of Loathe, it arrives four years after their debut Rouge Carpet Disaster — a record that became a watershed for contemporary post-hardcore and set expectations that Injury Episode both meets and deliberately subverts.

Where Rouge Carpet Disaster leaned into chaos and electronics, Injury Episode strips things back: the album was largely recorded live and often in single takes, a decision that gives the fifteen tracks an exposed, visceral quality that studio trickery would have buried. The lore that has always underpinned Static Dress's universe — the twin characters, the noirish alternate-reality narrative — continues here, this time as an allegory for repressed trauma and the growing pains that followed the debut's breakout. "Nostalgia Kills," featuring Underoath's Spencer Chamberlain and Aaron Gillespie, is the album's centrepiece single: an explosive passing-of-the-torch moment that earned the band some of their strongest press yet. "...hospice" shows a different side entirely — expansive, stadium-sized, emotionally direct in a way that caught even longtime fans off guard. "human props," "dull blade disguise," and "Classic.Death.Pose" fill out a tracklist that is Static Dress's most diverse and cohesive to date.

The album marks the first full-length featuring musical contributions from all four current members: Olli Appleyard (vocals), Vincent Weight (guitar), George Holding (bass), and Sam Ogden (drums). The collaborative effort shows. Injury Episode is the sound of a band who built their world meticulously and are now living in it.