Bicep are finally back with a full album. The Belfast-born electronic duo have announced SLUG, due Jan. 29, 2027 on Ninja Tune, and marked the news with a second batch of three songs: “Gas” with Lauren Duffus and SOARR, “Ultra” with Eartheater and Saskia, and “Equarium” with Kehina.
The record is their first full-length since 2021’s Isles. It follows a first trio of previews released last month, “Air,” “Lemonder” and “Viper,” the last of those made with Clark. The finished tracklist runs to 18 songs and also brings in George Riley, KUČKA, Sassy 009 and Rowena Fysx, with Julia Kent and Zosia Jagodzinska among the other contributors.
A title about looking twice
The name comes from the gap between the humble garden slug and its far more colourful underwater relatives, which the pair saw as a picture of how first impressions can hide a much bigger world. They describe the album as a deliberate attempt to widen their range, moving between rave, breakbeat, vocal tracks and ambient passages.
“We just wanted an album full of surprises and contrast.” — Bicep, on SLUG
According to the duo, the project grew out of a quieter, more isolated stretch away from their usual touring cycle, when they spent long hours in the studio going back through their own archive and revisiting ideas they had shelved years earlier.
Films, pigeons and a new live show
Each set of singles comes with its own three-part short film. The latest, directed by Alex Takács, follows a crew of pigeon fanciers pulling off a heist; Takács says the idea began with a news story about a pricey racing pigeon stolen in Brussels.
On stage, the BICEP LIVE show returns after a three-year break with a sold-out Royal Albert Hall date in London on Nov. 26, alongside DJ/AV sets in Sydney and Melbourne in late October and early November. A new live production follows the album, with dates confirmed at New York’s Knockdown Center on March 20, 2027 and in London on July 31, 2027, plus festival stops at Estéreo Picnic in Bogotá, Snowbombing in Austria and Primavera Sound in Barcelona.
Featured image: Bicep press photo. Photo: Brennan Bucannan, via The Line of Best Fit.