Just days after black midi announced their indefinite hiatus, vocalist and guitarist Geordie Greep has announced his debut solo album titled, The New Sound, out October 4th. He’s also shared the album’s first single “Holy Holy” and a batch of 2025 tour dates.
Greep wrote many of the songs on The New Sound in between black midi shows throughout the last two years. Over 30 different musicians participated in the sessions for The New Sound, which was recorded in both London and São Paulo — Greep says in a statement that much of the album was re-recorded in Brazil “with local musicians pulled together at the last minute” and finished off in London.
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“It was the first time I have had no one to answer to,” says Greep about the new album. “And with every impulse I had, I was able to completely follow it through to its conclusion. Being in a band (black midi), we often have this ‘we can do everything’ feeling, but you are also kind of limited in that approach, and sometimes it’s good to do something else, to let go of things.” He describes the main theme of The New Sound as “desperation; you don’t hear an unreliable narrator but someone who is kidding themselves that they have everything under control, but they don’t.”
To support The New Sound, Greep has mapped out both a 2024 European tour set for the fall and a 2025 North American tour taking place in the winter. The North American leg begins with a January 17th show in Philadelphia and continues throughout the northeast and midwest, hitting cities like Baltimore, Nashville, Chicago, Toronto, and more. Prior to the new dates, he’ll play a four-show residency in New York City in September. See below for the full list Geordie Greep’s tour dates.
Tickets for Geordie Greep’s 2025 North American tour will go on-sale on Friday, August 23rd at 10:00 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster.
“Holy Holy” is the first offering from The New Sound, and it’s as grandiose as Greep’s usual fare from black midi. With strong notes of a Latin big band and reeking of desperation, “Holy Holy” follows a character convincing a woman in a nightclub that he is indeed a famous, beloved man, only until the music escalates to a chaotic climax and the character’s insecurities are laid bare: “And I want you to make me look taller/ Could you kneel down the whole time? How much would that cost?,” Greep sings.
The song also arrives courtesy of a music video directed by Ethan & Tom. The visual depicts a suited Greep in a bowling alley, frequently dancing on the slick floors and sipping a cocktail with a straw. Eventually, we zoom in past bowling pins, through casino imagery, and end up on a pool table — all done with a psychedelic tint. Check out the video for “Holy Holy” below.
Greep released three albums with black midi, including 2023’s Hellfire. While he broke the news himself during a recent Instagram Live session, the band confirmed via The Quietus that they’d be on an “indefinite” hiatus but could potentially reunite in the future: “After a successful tour including South American dates, they agreed to have a break and do some solo work, with the understanding the Black Midi door [would] be left open.” Cameron Picton, another member of the trio, has also teased more music from his solo project, Camera Picture.
The New Sound Artwork:
The New Sound Tracklist:
01. Blues
02. Terra
03. Holy, Holy
04. The New Sound
05. Walk Up
06. Through A War
07. Bongo Season
08. Motorbike
09. As If Waltz
10. The Magician
11. If You Are But A Dream
Geordie Greep 2024-2025 Tour Dates:
08/30 — Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2 (Brighton Psych Fest)
08/31 — Manchester, UK @ Gorilla (Manchester Psych Fest)
09/10 — Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool
09/11 — New York, NY @ Nublu
09/12 — Brooklyn, NY @ TV Eye
09/13 — Brooklyn, NY @ Sultan Room
09/19 — Hamburg, DE @ Knust (Reeperbahn Festival)
10/10 — Cardiff, UK @ WMC (Llais Festival w/ Squid)
10/19 — Budapest, HU @ Isolation Festival
10/22 — Bristol, UK @ Fleece
10/23 — Falmouth, UK @ The Cornish Bank
10/25 — Cambridge, UK @ Storey’s Field Centre
10/26 — Liverpool, UK @ Arts Club
10/27 — Glasgow, UK @ Classic Grand
10/28 — Newcastle, UK @ The Cluny
10/29 — Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
10/30 — Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms
11/01 — Brussels, BE @ Orangerie (Les Nuits Botanique Weekender)
11/09 — London, UK @ EartH (Pitchfork Festival)
12/03 — Paris, FR @ Point Éphémère
12/05 — Berlin, DE @ Lido
12/06 — Amsterdam, NL @ Bitterzoet
12/07 — Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje
12/09 — Milan, IT @ Magnolia
12/10 — Düdingen, CH @ Bad Bonn
01/17 — Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
01/18 — Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
01/19 — Raleigh, NC @ Kings
01/21 — Asheville, NC @ Eulogy
01/22 — Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
01/24 — Nashville, TN @ The Blue Room
01/25 — St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway
01/27 — Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry
01/28 — Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
01/31 — Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle
02/01 — Kalamazoo, MI @ Bell’s Eccentric Café
02/03 — Toronto, ON @ Velvet Underground
02/05 — Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz
02/06 — Brattleboro, VT @ The Stone Church
02/07 — Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall