New Music: Howling Bells – Heavy Lifting

If Howling Bells had never released another song after Setting Sun, their place in the indie firmament would still be secure.

The London-based outfit have announced Strange Life – their first LP in twelve years – and marked that with a typically creative video for new single, Heavy Lifting. The track shows that they have more great music to give us.

The band were precursors of that current indie tendency to look at indie, shoegaze, and rock as resources, building blocks as it were, not ends in themselves, and that approach is still at the centre of the band’s music.

Back in 2006, they cited the likes of Tom Waits and Sonic Youth, Nirvana, and Fleetwood Mac as influences, and their presence remains on Heavy Lifting: crafted songs that still don’t follow fashions, instead making yet another song that will stand the test of time. Strange Life is going to brighten up the early months of 2026.

“Heavy Lifting is a hazy and grunge-fuelled declaration. Like anyone who’s worked at the thing they love tirelessly, you build up great resilience,” says Howling Bells vocalist/guitarist Juanita Stein.

“The callouses on your hands, the muscles you’ve strengthened, the swagger in your stride. Heavy Lifting is a song about the thousands of miles you walk to acquire this kind of confidence; this is not anything that can be stripped away from you.”

Strange Life comes out on the 13th of February 2026 via Nude Records, and is up for pre-order on online retailers like Townsend Music and Rough Trade. Follow Howling Bells on Instagram or Facebook for album updates.

Header photo by David Titlow