Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats return with new full-length album »Shapes Of Midnight«; out now through Killer Candy Records!
UK psychedelic heavy rockers Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats are back with their seventh full-length album, »Shapes Of Midnight«, which was just released this Friday, September 18th, 2026 via Killer Candy Records.
Listen to »Shapes Of Midnight« on all major streaming platforms!
Tracklist:
01. House By The Grave
02. Shapes Of Midnight
03. When Evil Wakes
04. Don’t Let It Control You
05. Psycho On The Loose
06. I Won’t Sleep (‘Til You’re Gone)
07. The Other Side Of The Sky
08. Sleep No More
Courtesy of Killer Candy Records:
Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats have returned with their new album »Shapes Of Midnight«, out now on Killer Candy Records. The latest chapter from the British psychedelic heavy rock outfit once again sees mastermind Kevin Starrs and the band creating a dark, hypnotic world where heavy riffs, psychedelic textures, haunting melodies and vintage rock sensibilities collide.
Order »Shapes Of Midnight« here: killercandyrecords.com
Since emerging from Cambridge in 2009, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats have developed a sound that refuses to sit comfortably within a single genre. Drawing on the darker side of 1960s and 70s rock, doom, psychedelic rock and heavy metal, the band have built a distinctive universe of their own – one that is equally rooted in classic heavy music and cinematic atmosphere.
Photo credit: Karin Hunt
»Shapes Of Midnight« follows 2024’s critically acclaimed concept album »Nell’ Ora Blu«, which saw the band take their fascination with Italian cinema and 1970s Giallo culture to an entirely new level. With their new album, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats continue to explore the darker and more psychedelic corners of their sound while remaining unmistakably themselves.
A brilliantly macabre concept album partly inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s The Masque Of The Red Death and the too-real nightmares of our modern age, »Shapes Of Midnight« refines the group’s “Evil Beatles” sound: A thrilling, expertly composed fusion of eerie harmonies, pop hooks, Thin Lizzy-esque twin-guitar brilliance, and the kind of fleet-footed heaviness that’s become their trademark.
»Shapes Of Midnight« was tracked at Abbey Road Studios – live to analogue tape, natch – in a blessed, three-day blitz in the company of storied engineer Chris Bolster, whose previous clients include Phil Spector, Ozzy Osbourne, and Paul McCartney. The band employed era-appropriate tech, from antique Neumann mics once breathed upon by the Fabs and the Floyd, to consoles and compressors from the peak era of recorded sound. The mastering, meanwhile, was completed by Grammy-nominated engineer Noel Summerville (The White Stripes, The Clash, My Bloody Valentine).
The album marks a return to the guitar-forward attack of their earlier records, but also an evolution. Their blessed invocation of proto-metal heaviness is gilded by blasts of uncanny melancholic pop, bruising NWOBHM gallop, jazzy textures and complexities, and Krautrock-y cro-magnon synth damage. It’s a deliciously dark listen, for sure; as songwriter Kevin Starrs says, “Our albums exist in an alternate universe to our own. They’re all stories that could happen here, but everything’s just a bit ‘off’.”
The release comes as the band is on an extensive worldwide tour, taking »Shapes Of Midnight« to stages across North America, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Europe.
More than fifteen years into their career, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats remain a singular force in heavy psychedelic rock – creating music that feels simultaneously rooted in another era and entirely outside of time.
North American Tour 2026
Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats + Messa
09/19 San Diego, CA – Observatory North Park
09/20 Los Angeles, CA – The Bellwether
09/21 San Francisco, CA – Regency Ballroom
09/24 Boise, ID – Knitting Factory
09/25 Portland, OR – Roseland Theater
09/26 Seattle, WA – The Showbox
09/29 Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
09/30 Denver, CO – Gothic Theatre
10/02 Minneapolis, MN – Varsity Theater
10/03 Omaha, NE – Slowdown
10/04 Chicago, IL – Concord Music Hall
10/06 Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall
10/07 Montreal, QC – Theatre Benfield
10/08 Worcester, MA – The Palladium
10/09 Baltimore, MD – Nevermore Hall
10/11 New York, NY – Irving Plaza
UK Tour 2026
Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats + The Wytches
19/11 – KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton
20/11 – New Century Hall, Manchester
21/11 – The Garage, Glasgow
22/11 – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
24/11 – Trinity, Bristol
25/11 – Engine Rooms, Southampton
27/11 – Concorde 2, Brighton
28/11 – The Adrian Flux Waterfront, Norwich
29/11 – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
Australian/New Zealand Tour 2026
12/2 – Crowbar – Brisbane, QLD
12/3 – Crowbar – Sydney, NSW
12/4 – Croxton Bandroom – Melbourne, VIC
12/6 – Lion Arts Factory – Adelaide, SA
12/8 – The Rechabite – Perth, WA
12/10 – The Tuning Fork – Auckland, NZ
12/11 – San Fran – Wellington, NZ
Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats are:
Kevin Starrs – Vocals/Lead Guitar
George Hudson – Rhythm Guitar/Vocals
Jus Smith – Bass
Jon Rice – Drums
Rachel Burnett – Keys/Vocals
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well