Static Dress Unveil The Ambitious Alternative Pop Of "...Hospice" - New Album "Injury Episode" Due For Release 29th May 2026

Since their inception, UK based quartet Static Dress have been one of the most consistently incendiary names in modern alternative music. Creating visuals, graphic novels (with accompanying soundtracks) and video games that act as narrative connectors for a noirish lore running throughout their musical output, the band have subverted expectations of the traditional band blueprint at every turn, winning multiple awards and heading out on tours with the likes of Bring Me The Horizon, Underoath, Knocked Loose and more in the process. Their debut album Rouge Carpet Disaster proved to be a watershed moment for contemporary post-hardcore; a rare debut that was as enticing as it was barbed, helping to ignite a new flame within the genre. Last month, they announced their highly anticipated sophomore album 'injury episode', due for release on 29th May via Sumerian Records. Static Dress returns with ‘...hospice’; a track that places an often unheard side to the band’s ambition in plain view, presenting them as you’ve never heard them before.

Following on from the 1-2 punch of modern post-hardcore masterpieces ‘human props’ and ‘Nostalgia Kills’ featuring scene legends Underoath, ‘...hospice’ revels in dynamism through uplifting emotion rather than jagged abrasiveness. A perfectly crafted cut of alternative pop, ‘...hospice’ exhibits the maturity of Static Dress’ songcraft; connecting with the listener through a lush, expansive instrumental that builds and unfurls gradually towards a stadium-sized chorus that’s purpose built to be sung at the sky. It’s a refreshing change of pace from a band whose only predictable trait is to keep their audience guessing, and an intriguing taste of just how eclectic a world they have built within their forthcoming album, 'injury episode'.

The track’s self-directed visual finds Static Dress soundtracking a dark fantasy that’s locked in a space between the past and the present. Performing within a grand hall, vocalist Olli Appleyard occupies the purgatorial space between alternate realities as a masked figure searches for genuine emotion, bending the rules of what’s possible within the physical realm within their hunt.

With the release of ‘...hospice’, Static Dress confound the sonic expectations placed in front of them, writing one of the most impactful examples of contemporary emo in the process. A track that feels destined to fill arenas sooner rather than later, ‘...hospice’ and 'injury episode' find a band tearing up the blueprint of their own formula to expand their own horizons and provide one of the most uniquely rewarding listening experiences you’ll find from an alternative album all year.

Announced to a select group of fans with a self-directed short film, followed by a performance at a disused central London cinema last month, 'injury episode' charts the silent growing pains of the period since their debut, using a continuation of Rouge Carpet Disaster's lore as a surreal allegory for trauma, loss, and what emerged as the reality behind a lifelong fantasy. Sonically as well as thematically, this is the most "human" Static Dress have sounded. The album is free from studio trickery and programming - often hammering out complex emotions in single takes to allow the intensity and exposed nerves of expression to cut through as if the listener is in the room with them. 'injury episode' acts as a comment on the commodification of art; how algorithms and a "constantly-scrolling" culture have veered mainstream audiences away from challenging art towards instant gratification. 'injury episode' combats this with a collection of tracks that are visceral in nature, yet undeniably infectious in their own right; eschewing typical song structure to force the listener to decode them for maximum impact. The album also marks the first full length project that features musical contributions from each of the band’s members; Olli Appleyard (vocals), Vin Weight (Guitar), George Holding (Bass), and Sam Ogden (Drums). That collaborative effort is palpable in the recordings, with injury episode marking the most diverse collection of music that that band has ever created.

In essence, 'injury episode' is one of global alternative music's most mysterious and forward-thinking bands tearing down the veil and showing the world that in an era of homogenised studio sleight of hand, the most subversive thing you can do is present your truth in raw, unflinching and real fashion. There is, after all, nothing more imaginative and complex than undiluted human emotion.

Static Dress has built a unique, fantastical world across audio, visual and narrative building. When that world has become so enormous that it enveloped the band’s own personal lives, the natural evolution of that situation is to cross-pollinate real-life experiences with the cinematic, foreboding world of Static Dress. 'injury episode' is the result.

To celebrate the release of 'injury episode', Static Dress will tour globally throughout 2026. UK/EU dates below.

Static Dress tour dates 2026:

• 23/05 – Hatfield, UK @ Slam Dunk South (Festival)
• 24/05 – Leeds, UK @ Slam Dunk North (Festival)
• 26/05 – Lyon, FR @ Le Transbordeur (w/ Knocked Loose)
• 28/05 – Zurich, CH @ Komplex 457 (w/ Knocked Loose)
• 29/05 – Oberhausen, DE @ Slam Dunk Germany (Festival)
• 01/06 – Milan, IT @ Slam Dunk Italy (Festival)
• 11/07 – Manchester, UK @ Bowlers Exhibition Centre (w/ Bring Me The Horizon)
• 12/07 – Manchester, UK @ Bowlers Exhibition Centre (w/ Bring Me The Horizon)