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Feb 11, 2025 By Mark Redfern Photography by Stew Baxter

British shoegazers bdrmm are releasing a new album, Microtonic, on February 28 via Rock Action. Now they have released its third single, “Lake Disappointment.” Joe Gist and Scott Gist directed the song’s video. Watch it below.

Vocalist and guitarist Ryan Smith had this to say about the new single in a press release: “‘Lake Disappointment’ is probably the most aggressive and exciting song we’ve conjured up. I remember sending it to Alex (our producer) and I’ve never seen him so excited about a track. It was such a dream to work on. I feel like within all the melancholy of the record there is a lot of anger too. This is us getting that out, and saying fuck you to the wrongdoers.

“I will always hold such a great memory of shooting the video. We ventured to an abandoned warehouse in Sheffield and recruited an amazing production team and created our own dystopian TV shopping channel (under strong orders [from] our bosses at MicroTech). We must have been sick for a week after from being stood around in the cold for 12 hours in hospital gowns, but it was worth it. No pain, no gain (we’re still waiting for the gain).”

Previously the band shared Microtonic’s lead single, “John on the Ceiling,” which was one of our Songs of the Week. Then they released its second single, “Infinity Peaking.”

Microtonic is the Hull-based band’s third album and the follow-up to 2023’s I Don’t Know. The new album features Sydney Minsky Sargeant of Working Men’s Club and Olivesque of Nightbus.

Smith had this to add about the album in a previous press release: “I felt very constrained writing a certain type of music to fit the genre [we were known for] but something lifted and I felt more free to create what I want. And what I seem to be doing at the moment is a lot of electronic music—taking influence from different spans of electronica, from dance music to ambient and more experimental sources.”

Bdrmm is Ryan Smith (guitar, vocals), Jordan Smith (bass, synth and vocals), Conor Murray (drums), and Joe Vickers (guitar).

Read our 2020 interview with bdrmm.

Read our review of I Don’t Know.

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