Fresh off an electrifying performance at Sŵn Festival in Cardiff, where frontman Zac Lawrence leapt barriers and turned the dance floor into his stage, DEADLETTER stood drenched in rain and energy. Moments later, Will, George, and Zac shared insights into their upcoming album, Existence is Bliss, and the creative pulse driving their next era.
The band’s undeniable stage chemistry, often described as chaotic yet cohesive, stems from more than just experience. They attribute it to longevity and a deep-rooted “respect” for each member’s role in their collective sound. “You react to each other on stage,” George explained, comparing their dynamic to “atoms bouncing off one another,” each musician an essential part of a larger whole.
When asked to describe their music, Will didn’t hesitate: “High energy, sharp and angular.” That same confidence defines their live shows, where new material like It Comes Creeping offers a glimpse of the band’s evolving sound. The track, discovered on an old voice note, was written “quickly” and came together “naturally,” marking what they see as a pivotal shift in their songwriting. Their process, they explained, is “collaborative” and “equal,” built on instinct as much as shared trust.
This spirit of collaboration has expanded further on Existence is Bliss. With a second album comes new freedom, “a bigger threshold for creativity,” as the band put it. The new record departs from the immediacy of their debut, which they described as “a collection of songs we’d been playing live.” Instead, this time, they’ve focused on crafting “a melodic” record that’s “less dependent on the live experience,” embracing more experimentation in the studio.
Zac described his lyrical approach as a direct response to his surroundings: “I write about the world around me, because it’s the world around me. Do you know what I mean? I’m responding to my existence.” Writing away from home, the group added, helps unlock “something with a different sound,” a contrast to what happens when they’re “stuck in a routine.”
The band credits producer Ben Romans-Hopcraft for nurturing that exploration. Unlike their first album, which featured songs refined over “two and a half years” of live play, this time they spent months in the studio developing ideas in real time. The result, they say, is a record that feels both “frantic” and “cohesive,” capturing the tension and release that define DEADLETTER’s identity.
If second albums are often labelled as risky, Existence is Bliss feels like the opposite, a confident, forward-looking statement from a band that thrives on movement, momentum, and meaning.
