With cover artwork photographed from the exact same spot as the sleeve for ‘Hope Is Important’ – only facing in the opposite direction and in glorious colour – Idlewild make a welcome return with their new self-titled record.

The tenth album in the band’s career, it finds them ‘looking back without being nostalgic’ according to frontman Roddy Woomble: ‘For the first time we were referencing ourselves, not in a nostalgic way, in a positive, creative way, realising that we had a ‘sound’ and the songs we were writing should celebrate that. After it was all recorded and done, it felt fitting to simply title it ‘Idlewild’.’

Lead single ‘Stay Out of Place’ opens the album with huge hooks and ramblings about the ‘sadness of the sky’ and how ‘the world as we know it is mostly undefined’ before veering into a Twilight Sad-esque space and a note that ‘It’s important that we stay here for a while’. ‘Like I Had Before’ has a New Romantic touch in its synthy opening as Roddy offers observations on screen-led life – ‘Truth from a television’ – and Rod Jones has fun experimenting with his guitar.

‘It’s Not the First Time’ takes you back to Idlewild’s ‘Warnings/Promises’ album with its slower but no less anthemic sound, complete with Antlers-style effects in the background. With its title, ‘The Mirror Still’ could be a distant relative of a classic song from the band’s past, ‘Let Me Sleep (Next to the Mirror)’ as Roddy declares: ‘You dare to dream a happiness too far’. What follows is stream-of-consciousness thoughts on walking around and passing people on the street – plus thoughts on ‘the people I’ll never get to meet’.

The riffs are back in for ‘Make It Happen’, a stomping song that feels like it could slot onto an album by fellow Scots Biffy Clyro. Opening with glam-rock potency, Roddy growls ‘the more you notice, the less you look’ and laments how ‘nothing happens’ before it moves into a scuzzier space. It’s the heaviest Idlewild have been for years and it’s an absolute triumph. ‘I Wish I Wrote It Down’ continues with melancholic alt-rock melodies and talk of communication and information overload: ‘It rains all day and night and you need sunshine to survive’.

There’s a touch of early R.E.M. in the opening notes of ‘Permanent Colours’, a song that has the declaration of ‘I want more to life’ as its calling card, while ‘Writers of the Present Time’ has driving bass, catchy hooks and gorgeous wordplay: ‘Time stops for you and starts for someone’. The closing ‘End With Sunrise’ has an almost cinematic, post-rock and gothic edge to it with Roddy offering apologies before admitting ‘there’s nothing for me, as fat as I can see’.

‘Idlewild’ is the sound of one of our finest bands reignited and re-energised. Just over half an hour long, it’s a statement of intent that you won’t want to miss.

Catch Idlewild live on the following dates
October
10th – Boilershop, Newcastle
11th – Project House, Leeds
12th – Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton
14th – The Junction, Cambridge
15th – O2 Academy, Bristol
17th – Koko, London (SOLD OUT)
18th – New Century Hall, Manchester

December
5th – Beach Ballroom, Aberdeen (SOLD OUT)
6th – LiveHouse, Dundee
7th – Barrowland, Glasgow (SOLD OUT)

January (2026)
2nd – 5th – Rockaway Beach, Bognor Regis