DEADSET

Hull post-punk/goth quartet Deadset have today revealed their new single ‘Party Line’, which is set for release on all good digital service providers on 10th April 2025.

The band recently signed to well-respected and fast-growing local independent label Man Demolish Records (HOLY POPES, ROTHCO) and will release their debut EP A Place Called Home on 16th May 2025.

To celebrate the EP’s release, Deadset will play a special live show for BBC Introducing at Wrecking Ball Arts Centre, Hull on 16th May 2025, with free entry tickets available now (see below for listings).

Produced by Lee Drinkall (FEVER, LIFE) at Yuba Studios in Barton, mixed by Pat Pretorius (Vulgarians, The Talks) and mastered by Pete Maher (U2, Jack White), ‘Party Line’ is another accomplished slice of gothic post-punk from the band that shimmers with reverb and slap-back heavy vocal.

Lyrically exploring the worrying rise of misogyny and violence against women, commenting on the single vocalist Sam Mellors said: “I was seeing a lot of stories in the news about girls going out and never making it home and it just got me thinking ‘man, wtf is going on?!’, so this song ended up coming from that. It’s essentially a murder ballad I guess, but it’s also me kinda asking why these things keep happening?”

A Place Called Home’s lead single ‘Sister Codeine’ was released earlier this year and explores the false reality created by isolation, ruminating, and catastrophizing; being unable to escape your own spiralling thoughts to the extent of believing them.

Musically, the new material feels like a subtle change in direction for the outside from previous releases—it’s impossible to ignore the new influence of Billy Duffy on guitarist James Massey, with the lead single so reminiscent of Goth Rock legends The Cult, giving the new material a more refreshing, upbeat tone even within the somewhat morbid context of the song.

DEADSET were formed in 2022, originally a product of founding members Massey and Mellors, who discovered a genuine bond over writing together. Their sound took on a more gritty, tense, and claustrophobic character when bassist Adam Arnold and drummer Rio Campbell joined, taking the classic indie sensibilities of the two original members into harsher new territories.

The quartet have truly come to life since the band started writing as a group and embracing each other's musical preferences, their influences now including New Order, Fontaines DC and Interpol. Striving to make future releases ever more progressive and unique, the band’s live shows are already locally renowned for flipping between genres, showcasing their chorus-laden early offerings loaded with fuzz and grit.

The band’s vocalist Sam Mellors describes songwriting for Deadset as his own “form of therapy”—an outlook that truly shines through on their newest release, as he comes to terms with the falsities within his own thought patterns.

Further new music and live dates will be announced over the coming weeks.