Liverpool’s THE DSM IV Announce New EP NEGATIVE UTOPIA Released 31st January 2025 On Vinyl via 9x9 Records
Liverpool gothic alt-pop trio THE DSM IV are pleased to announce that they will release their new EP, NEGATIVE UTOPIA, via local independent label heroes 9x9 Records on 31st January 2025.
The EP will be available on vinyl and all good digital service providers, and the band have also revealed a new run of early 2025 UK tour dates, with tickets on sale now.
Formed in Liverpool in 2018 by former Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster frontman Guy McKnight, THE DSM IV crystallise the ultra real and the otherworldly, bringing a focused hyperrealism to the party. Their convention-defying live performances toy with audience expectations and stimulate questions of the narratives being sold to us as news—or entertainment—all to the beat of the drum machinist.
As if pontificating from a lectern, McKnight sings and gesticulates like his life depends on it, his lyrics enticing or lacerating depending on the mood the band conjures. In an age of perversion of reality, justice and truth, THE DSM IV poetically reflect on our world’s hypocrisies and dilemmas, with danceability, intelligence, indignation, grace, style—refreshing purity for these polluted times.
“I think we’re inspired by a lot of stuff like books, and dare I say it even certain artists and painters,” says McKnight of the band’s world, “but for me personally, especially by film. Directors, photography, film scores. Different aspects. To put it in a nutshell, I think it’s always healthy to have a recognition or full-on embrace of the dark, unhinged, existential crises that everyone experiences from time to time in our creativity. Particularly now, in this social media generation, it’s becoming increasingly important.”
Growing up in the ‘90s on the notorious Grizedale Estate in Liverpool, THE DSM IV’s incendiary guitarist Jade O has a lifetime of inspiration to draw on. With the debut album cover featuring a photograph of a bar of soap from her Nan Moe’s mantle piece which one of her cousins recently carved whilst in jail, their origins and lived experiences are about as real as it gets. Incidentally, the back cover is a footprint in concrete from a beloved “110” (Nike Air 95s) which are synonymous with the city, so-monikered by locals because that’s how much they cost when they first came out.
When drummer Pav Cummins walked into the clothes emporium where Jade and Guy work on the hunt for denims, McKnight instantly knew that this rake-thin, medieval-looking percussionist was the answer to his prayers; a handsome doppelgänger of ‘Naked’-era actor David Thewlis. Perfect! Drum machines were invested in, no persuasion necessary.
After a long gestational period giving rise to a string of standalone singles, the band finally released their formidable, uncompromising debut album, NEW AGE PARANOIA—recorded at The Libertines’ HQ at The Albion Rooms, Margate—in 2023, leading to support slots with Sleaford Mods, The Libertines, and Dream Wife.
“It’s interesting and problematic how much of our entertainment plays into our fears and makes people kind of scared of each other,” says McKnight of the album title’s meaning. “True crime seems to have snowballed into this huge desirable genre and I admit that I watch some of it myself, but some of it is too much and I don’t know why anyone would want to watch it. [New Age Paranoia] is really a kind of observation about the time we live in, and a lot of those observations are taken from the media.”
Standalone 2024 single ‘White Wolf’ carried on the momentum, with a forthcoming EP of unreleased demos and remixes, NEGATIVE UTOPIA, scheduled for 2025 on new independent label home 9x9 Records—an as-yet unheard part of the band’s musical explorations and experimentations in preparation for the debut album.
New EP NEGATIVE UTOPIA is released 31st January 2025 via 9x9 Records
Live Dates:
- 07.11.24 - Bristol - The Golden Lion (w/ Jemma Freeman)
- 08.11.24 - Liverpool - Favourite Days Festival (w/ ARXX)
- 29.11.25 - Manchester - Night & Day
- 31.01.25 - London - Shacklewell Arms
- 01.02.25 - Norwich - Voodoo Daddys
- 07.02.25 - Liverpool - Rough Trade (EP release show)
- 23.02.25 - Todmorden - The Golden Lion
- 01.03.25 - Brighton , Green Door Store (support slot)
