Formed in Bristol in 2009, IDLES are widely recognised as one of the most electrifying, boundary-pushing bands working today. With two UK #1 albums—including 2024’s TANGK—they’ve climbed from underground favourites into a globally resonant, GRAMMY-nominated powerhouse. TANGK, produced by Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, The Smile, Beck), Kenny Beats (Denzel Curry, Vince Staples, Geese) and the band’s own Mark Bowen (who has also produced the forthcoming Florence + The Machine record), earned three GRAMMY nominations (Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Performance for “Gift Horse”) and drew widespread acclaim, including twenty-one 4★ UK reviews.
The TANGK campaign included a transcendent secret show at London’s Village Underground, a viral AI-deepfake video for “Grace” (reimagining Coldplay’s “Yellow”), and a seminal performance of “Gift Horse” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Their UK tour sold out fully—including two nights at Alexandra Palace, two at Birmingham’s O2 Academy, and three at Manchester’s O2 Apollo—before culminating in two monumental sold-out hometown shows in August at Bristol’s Queen Square, the first major music events at the venue in over two decades.
The band’s reach now extends truly worldwide. In their recent U.S. run, they headlined Forest Hills Stadium in New York— a statement of the band’s growing international stature. And at Glastonbury, IDLES delivered a powerful headline set on Glastonbury’s Other Stage, during which Banksy chose that moment to unveil an inflatable migrant boat carrying dummy passengers—a striking art intervention that became an international news story.
Beyond live shows, IDLES composed and performed the original soundtrack for Oscar-nominated director Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing, marking their first foray into major film scoring. Meanwhile, frontman Joe Talbot expanded his creative voice through his new podcast Oh Gatekeeper with Joe Talbot, a candid series featuring guests like Danny Brown, Julian Casablancas, Peaches and others — a platform for exploring art, identity, and the inner life of an artist.
TANGK follows their 2021 critically lauded CRAWLER, which earned IDLES their first two GRAMMY nominations, and builds on the phenomenal impact they’ve had since the incendiary 2017 debut Brutalism — a journey marked by sold-out shows at iconic venues, an Ivor Novello Award win, and BRIT and Mercury Prize nominations.
