Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats announce new full-length album »Shapes Of Midnight«; title track streaming now!

UK psychedelic heavyweights Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats premiere the second single and title track of their new full-length album »Shapes Of Midnight«, which will be released on September 18th, 2026 via Killer Candy Records.

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:

WARNING: Cult group Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats are back in the ditch with the title track from their new album »Shapes Of Midnight«, on Killer Candy Records. The album will be released Sep 18, with the vinyl pre sale starting later today at killercandyrecords.com.

Two years on from the mesmeric »Nell’ Ora Blu«, their synth-laden soundtrack for an imaginary Giallo movie, orphic Cambridge heavies Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats return with their seventh full-length, »Shapes Of Midnight«. 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’.”

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats spent their summer laying waste to festivals such as Sweden Rock, Hellfest, and Graspop and will tour North America, the UK, and Australia/New Zealand later this year. Further dates across Europe for next year to be announced soon.

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

North American Tour 2026
Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats + Messa

09/08 Charlotte, NC – Neighborhood Theatre
09/09 Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
09/10 Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl
09/12 Dallas, TX – Studio at The Bomb Factory
09/13 Austin, TX – Levitation Festival
09/15 Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theatre
09/16 Tucson, AZ – La Rosa
09/18 Las Vegas, NV – The Portal at Area 15
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

Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well