Four-piece band UNIVERSITY, formed in Crewe and comprising Zak Bowker (vocals/guitar), Ewan Barton (bass), Joel Smith (drums), and their mascot Eddie, have announced their debut album, titled ‘McCartney, It’ll Be OK.’ The album is set for release on June 20, 2025, via Transgressive Records. Alongside the album announcement, the band has also shared their latest single, “Curwen,” which is available to listen to now.
‘McCartney, It’ll Be OK’ was recorded with producer Kwes Darko (known for his work with Sampa The Great and Denzel Curry) at Damon Albarn’s Studio 13 in London. The album builds upon the promising foundation laid by UNIVERSITY’s 2023 debut EP, ‘Title Track,’ showcasing a progression in their sound with brighter and more melodic hooks, heavier breakdowns, and more refined lyrics.
Notably, UNIVERSITY recorded their debut album entirely live, preserving the energetic and somewhat chaotic essence that has characterised their earlier work. This recording approach ensures that ‘McCartney, It’ll Be OK’ retains the thrillingly unpredictable quality that has defined the band’s sound to date.
Of the album, Smith states,
There was a conscious choice in the writing to make it more emotionally varied. It encapsulates a wider array of emotions. We’ve got a more light-hearted way of looking at our band now. It puts the sounds from the EP into colour. Because we’re influenced by a lot of emo and music that’s extreme, we realised things can only be so miserable unless you have something to contrast it with. You can only feel the dark properly when you also feel the light. You want to feel all the jumps… like The White Album.
The new track showcases the four-piece’s signature blend of brutally heavy instrumentation and absurdist humour, delivering a scything yet undeniably catchy punk offering. “Curwen” continues UNIVERSITY’s penchant for juxtaposing contrasting musical elements. While the previously released “Massive Twenty One Pilots Tattoo,” named after a darkly humorous hypothetical tattoo, interspersed moments of softer clarity with sprawling and incendiary punk rock, “Curwen” leans more directly into the band’s heavier, punk-infused sound.
