Blue Bendy return with new single ‘Poke’, UK & EU tour dates start this week

Photo credit: Jason Sheehan

Praise for Blue Bendy’s debut album So Medieval 

“Beneath the thick veneer of droll affectation, this London-via-Scunthorpe band writes with uncommon poignancy about the nature of art, ambition, and success.” Pitchfork (8.0)

“A record that surprises at every turn and forces the listener to pay close attention” NME (4/5)

“Like an audiobook during a car crash” The Line of Best Fit (8/10)

“Blue Bendy’s debut is one which rewards the time spent with it in spades” DIY (4/5)

“Let me assure you that this glorious inversion of guitar pop as we know it has been worth the wait”  CLASH (8/10)

“It’s a pleasingly unpredictable and singular debut” UNCUT (8/10)

“Ughh who told you I’d gone insane?” is a bold opening lyric for a band’s first new music in 18 months, a period marked with a debut album release and a very near break up. But then this is no ordinary band. This is the weird, wonderful – and against the odds – return of Blue Bendy.

‘Poke’ is Blue Bendy’s newest offering and their most accomplished work to date, their first new music since April 2024’s critically acclaimed debut album So Medieval. Released today (3 September) “Poke” is produced by Balázs Altsach (Ugly, The Orchestra (For Now)) and mastered by Felix Davis (Cameron Winter, Geese, Porridge Radio). 

On ‘Poke,’ Blue Bendy’s idiosyncratic art rock-meets-chamber pop sound has evolved. It has become more nuanced, tight and ambitious than ever before. Vocalist Arthur Nolan’s infamously arch, non-sequitur laden lyrics are cut through with fraught vulnerability. Mentions of WhatsApp, pookies and baes skip blithely hand-in-hand with themes of guilt, mental stasis and derealisation.

In a playful tone, Arthur explains that the lyrics for ‘Poke’ were a reaction to “terrible hedonistic tendencies” and what happens when they meet “rural social reclusion.” He continues: “but for me it’s just like any fetishised nostalgic romance pop song. Who started the rumour of my insanity, and is a Facebook poke still hot ten years on?”

“This pretty much sums up our last 18 months perfectly. Maybe with a pinch of salt.”

‘Poke’ is the first taste of new music since Blue Bendy’s debut album So Medieval, a release described by Pitchfork as “Defiant, high-stakes art-rock,” The Independent as “An ambitious record that revels in the push-and-pull of sound and ideas” whilst The Guardian proclaimed the group as “The most underrated band in London”.

The saga of Blue Bendy’s journey from So Medieval to new single “Poke” careens through chapters of tumult, new starts and career defining highlights. After a five year gestation of their long awaited debut album, the band teetered on the precipice of a breaking up the day after its release. Following a hair-raising hometown album release show in Scunthorpe, two members of the band quit the day after the show.

Several months of uncertainty was brought to a close with new members Dina Willcock and Tristan Petsola taking up the bass guitar and drums respectively, joining brothers Arthur(vocals) and Oliver Nolan (guitar), Olivia Morgan (piano and synth) and Joseph Nash(guitar).

The new line-up burst out of the traps for their first gig back, playing to a packed out Walled Garden stage at Green Man Festival 2024. The Independent described their set as “a young band on the upswing of their career,” with DIY describing the show as “a belated celebration” and Clash hailing it as “a delight”.

They are now assuredly a band pushing to new heights, as they move into their next phase with ‘Poke.’

This Autumn, Blue Bendy tour with Australian band Floodlights in London and across Europe, followed by a run of UK headline dates ahead of a support slot with Black Country, New Road at London’s iconic Brixton Academy on Halloween. The band headline Oslo in Hackney in the new year. Full dates listed below:

Blue Bendy Live Dates

= Supporting Floodlights
✶ = Supporting Black Country, New Road

4 Sept – Village Underground, London, UK

5 Sept – Popup, Paris, France

7 Sept – Cinetol, Amsterdam, Netherlands

9 Sept – Merleyn, Nijmegen, Netherlands 

10 Sept – Badehaus, Berlin, Germany

12 Sept – Artheatre, Cologne, Germany

13 Sept – Molotow Club, Hamburg, Germany

18 Sept – Edinburgh, Mash House, UK

19 Sept – Manchester, Gullivers, UK

20 Sept – Bristol, Rough Trade, UK

28 Oct – Oxford, Little Bully, UK

29 Oct – Ipswich, Smokehouse, UK

31 Oct – London, O2 Academy Brixton, UK ✶

5 Feb – London, Oslo, UK