DITZ announce new album Never Exhale via Republic Of Music/Domino & share new single ‘Space/Smile’.
DITZ are back! Today they announce their new album Never Exhale out 24th January 2025 via Republic Of Music/Domino Publishing, as well as new single ‘Space/Smile’. They also share details of a huge EU/UK tour to take place next year.
Never Exhale is the sound of a band that’s never slowed down. With themes around unnecessary hatred and division, personal demons, politics, and what it would be like to weigh up your impact on the world, more reveal themselves on further listens.
Following debut The Great Regression released in 2022, it’s a document of what the 5-piece have been up to since, as well as where they were when writing and rehearsing the record, mostly between touring. DITZ made use of borrowed rehearsal spaces, sometimes donated by the bands they played with the night before - they even ended up debuting a newly written song live the next night.
The plan was to record Never Exhale in a more traditional setting, but was abandoned when they were offered a support tour with IDLES.
‘Space/Smile’ is a compact first taste of the record, where vocalist C.A. Francis (they/them) says,
"I feel like Space/Smile is pretty unique within the album. It’s the shortest track by a fair margin. We’ve kind of become known for using dynamic shifts to create drama in our music and with this track we tried to avoid it. It’s all about the escalation."
It could be said that the band treat recording and release of music as an afterthought. Often playing songs live years before their release, tweaking them as they go. The songs on the final record may change before they are ever heard as part of the album.
C.A. continues on the new album,
"Never exhale feels like a logical step from The Great Regression. It’s a document of what we’ve been up to and where we’ve been as we wrote and rehearsed the majority of the album on off days between touring. Making use borrowed rehearsal spaces, sometimes donated by the bands we played with the night before. After that we’d probably debut the newly written song the next night"
It was largely recorded at Holy Mountain studios in London during a freezing cold January, but the process was fraught with obstacles due to touring. They still managed to get the album mixed by the originally intended engineer, Seth Manchester (Model/Actriz, Lingua Ignota, Big Brave), and the result is a record hardened by the pressure of its own making. Laboured but not loved.
Sonically the album has its roots in the usual DITZ influences, classic noise rock such as The Jesus Lizard or Shellac, or the obtuse post punk of the Fall, but also brings in fresh influences. The closing track ‘Britney’ could be compared to Radiohead or Mogwai. Overall, the album is a clear development from their first effort. A sign of things to come.
Picture by Pedro Takahashi.
Never Exhale out 24th January 2025
Tour Dates
19th Oct 24 - Stereolux - Nantes, France
10th Nov 24 - Sonic City - Kortrijk, Netherlands
30th Nov 24 - Nos Reves Font Du Bruit - Troyes, France
7th Dec 24 - Zeitgeist Festival - Nijmegen , Netherlands
5th Feb 25 - Music Box - Lisbon, Portugal
6th Feb 25 - Sala El Sol - Madrid, Spain
7th Feb 25 - Sala Upload - Barcelona, Spain
10th Feb 25 - Lido - Berlin, Germany
12th Feb - Hus - Stockholm, Sweden
13th Feb 25 - Underwerket - Copenhagen, Denmark
14th Feb 25 - Kent Club - Hamburg, Germany
15th Feb 25 - UT Connewitz - Leipzig, Germany
17th Feb 25 - Chumury - Warsaw, Poland
18th Feb 25 - Cafe V Lese - Prague, Czech
19th Feb 25 - Rhiz - Vienna, Austria
20th Feb 25 - Kranhalle - Munich, Germany
22nd Feb 25 - Bogen F - Zurich, Switzerland
23rd Feb 25 - Arci Belleza - Milan, Italy
25th Feb 25 - Club Transbo - Lyon, France
26th Feb 25 - Astrolabe - Orleans, France
27th Feb 25 - Antipode - Rennes, France
1st Mar 25 - La Maroquinerie - Paris, France
2nd Mar 25 - Witloof - Brussels, Belgium
3rd Mar 25 - Rowtown - Rotterdam, Netherlands
4th Mar 25 - Gebaude 9 - Cologne, Germany
5th Mar 25 - Rockhal - Esch-zur-Alzette, Luxembourg
6th Mar 25 - Vera - Gronigen, Netherlands
7th Mar 25 - Paradiso THT - Amsterdam, Netherlands
8th Mar 25 - L’Aeronef - Lille, France
25th Mar 25 - Hug & Pint - Glasgow, UK
26th Mar 25 - Brudenell Social Club - Leeds, UK
27th Mar 25 - Bodega - Nottingham, UK
28th Mar 25 - Yellow Arch - Sheffield, UK
29th Mar 25 - Voodoo Daddy's, Norwich, UK
1st Apr 25 - YES Pink Room - Manchester, UK
2nd Apr 25 - Hare & Hounds - Birmingham, UK
3rd Apr 25 - The Garage - London, UK
4th Apr 25 - Chalk - Brighton, UK
7th Apr 25 - Control Club - Bucharest, Romania
8th Apr 25 - Pave Club - Sofia, Bulgaria
9th Apr 25 - Rover Bar - Thessaloniki, Greece
10th Apr 25 - Arch Club - Athens, Greece