David J announces a new album, the Decemberists return to Wildwood, BODEGA and HAAi release records, and Bauhaus revisit a lockdown collaboration.

IN THIS EDITION
01 David J · 02 The Decemberists · 03 BODEGA · 04 Bauhaus · 05 HAAi

01 / David J releases a Rose Garden protest ahead of his new album

David J, the bassist and co-founder of Bauhaus and Love and Rockets, has released “Requiem for the Rose Garden,” the first single from Postcards from the Afterlife. Recorded with his longtime Detroit collaborators Duende, it arrived on October 8 through Label 51 Recordings; the album follows on November 27.

J says he wrote the song during Donald Trump’s first administration, using the White House garden as both a physical place and a symbol of his opposition to the administration. The album also turns to relationships and departed friends, including Pat Fish of The Jazz Butcher. J describes its subject as “the poignant persistence of connection, be it in life or in death.” Double vinyl and CD editions are available to pre-order.

02 / The Decemberists return to Wildwood for its closing song

The Decemberists have released “The Better Part of Bravery” for the end credits of Wildwood, LAIKA’s stop-motion adaptation of the 2011 novel written by the band’s frontman Colin Meloy and illustrated by Carson Ellis, his wife. The film opens in US cinemas on October 23.

“Writing the song for the end credits gave me a chance to return to the world of Wildwood in a different way,” Meloy says. The song closes the 26-track soundtrack and is the band’s first new material since 2024’s As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again. Meloy discusses the song.

03 / BODEGA release All Inside Aquarium

New York art-rock band BODEGA’s All Inside Aquarium arrived on October 9 through Chrysalis Records. They recorded in Leeds with producer Matt Peel and had the album mixed in Brighton by Theo Verney.

Among the songs is a reworking of Bob Dylan’s “Slow Train,” keeping his lyrics and setting them to new music. “Weather Me,” “Pick Up the Check” and “Literary World” also preceded the release. The band return to Britain in November, with shows including Glasgow on November 19 and London on November 25. The band’s page has the music and tour dates.

04 / Bauhaus’s lockdown recording gets an etched vinyl edition

Bauhaus’s “Drink the New Wine,” first released digitally in March 2022, is coming to 12-inch vinyl through Cleopatra Records on October 30. Peter Murphy, Daniel Ash, David J and Kevin Haskins made the track separately during lockdown, passing audio files between them in an “exquisite corpse” collaboration.

Cleopatra describes it as the band’s last recording before their indefinite hiatus in 2023. The hand-numbered edition is limited to 150 copies per colour, with an etched B-side that carries no audio. Ash describes the band’s playful approach: “I always loved it when Bauhaus would go into art fart mode. Truly liberating and FUN!”

05 / HAAi takes HUMANiSE to the dancefloor with DIGITiSE

Australian-born, London-based producer and DJ HAAi has released DIGITiSE through Mute. Out since October 9, the ten-track album grew from an extension of last year’s HUMANiSE into a separate companion record. “I wanted to make music I could play when I DJ,” she says.

HAAi developed the tracks while touring and used responses to her DJ sets to refine them. New collaborators include Echonomist, Skybreak and Cantoalegre, a children’s choir from Medellín, Colombia. As she puts it: “DIGITiSE holds the hand of HUMANiSE and walks it to the club.” The album is available on vinyl and digitally.

Previously: Daily Undertone No. 011 — Teenage Fanclub release Do Not Dare To Dream →