The Belfast duo’s first new music of 2026 arrives with a three-part short film on UK free party culture, ahead of a sold-out Royal Albert Hall show in November.
Bicep have returned with their first new music of the year, a three-track release titled Air / Lemonder / Viper, out now on Ninja Tune. The tracks feature a collaboration with Warp producer Clark, alongside vocal contributions from Saskia and SOARR.
The three songs move across the range Bicep are known for, melodic, emotional and banging in turn, while sharing an unmistakable throughline.
Today’s release is Bicep’s first standalone material strictly under their own name since 2021’s Isles, after last year’s CHROMA collection, and TAKKUUK, a collaborative soundtrack spotlighting Indigenous vocalists from the Arctic region.
Andrew Ferguson and Matthew McBriar said the release marks the start of a new chapter for them, crediting a new studio and their own custom-built vocal booth with changing how they work.
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“This really marks the start of a new chapter for us. Moving into a new studio, where we built our own vocal booth, has completely transformed how we work. We’ve finally managed to step up our recording process, allowing us to collaborate live in the room with amazing vocalists like SOARR and Saskia to add a whole new layer to our sound,” they said. “It was a genuine pleasure to collaborate with Clark, one of our all-time favourite producers. He has brought another dimension to the project and really pushed us to the next level while keeping our core energy intact.”
Air / Lemonder / Viper tracklist:
- Bicep – Air (feat. SOARR)
- Bicep – Lemonder
- Bicep & Clark – Viper (feat. Saskia)
The release comes with a three-part short film from Palestinian-American director Ryan Doubiago which premieres later today, tracking two UK free party crews across 24 hours from set-up to sun-up. ‘Lemonder’ documents the early formation of a party in the English countryside, ‘Viper’ captures the night’s peak using a bullet-time rig to catch its blur and motion, and ‘Air’ closes things out with sunrise footage and stills from the comedown. Doubiago said the project was made in response to club culture being pushed further to the margins amid a resurgence of the free party movement and a corresponding police crackdown.
It follows a busy stretch for the duo, including a largely ambient “synthapella” set on The Lot Radio previewing unreleased material, and an intimate DJ pop-up at Brooklyn’s Signal, where attendees received a USB of early unreleased tracks.
Bicep Live returns this November after a three-year hiatus with a show at London’s Royal Albert Hall, which sold out within minutes off the back of more than 30,000 sign-ups. It follows a run of headline DJ sets including Dave P’s Making Time Festival in Philadelphia and a secret appearance at Draaimolen Festival. The duo also head to Australia for two DJ/AV shows, headlining Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion on Saturday October 31st and Melbourne’s The Underpass on November 1st and 2nd.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
