Hotly-tipped Bristol nu-gaze band, Split Chain, have today announced the release of their debut album, “motionblur”, for July 11th, 2025, via Epitaph Records.
Speaking of the album, bassist Tom Davies says: “‘motionblur’ is as much a coming-of-age story, as it is a celebration of our adolescence and the things that defined us. We wanted to encapsulate the feelings of angst and isolation that so many struggle with growing up — but just as importantly, we wanted to honour the things that shaped us: the lifestyles, the music, and the pop culture that became part of our identity.
This album is an amalgamation of our individual and collective experiences. While its themes can be dark, at its core, motionblur is about resilience — about making it through without letting those experiences weigh you down. It was crucial for us to create an album that felt like a cohesive piece of art while still being sonically diverse. We wanted to capture the feeling of growing up in an era when albums were more than just collections of songs — they were experiences, meant to be played from start to finish, over and over again”.
Speaking of today’s new single, ‘bored. tired. torn.’, frontman Bert Martinez-Cowles says: “‘bored.tired.torn’ explores the difficulty and pain of growing up in a broken childhood home. Thematically the song centers on whether or not someone should have to deal with the shit they’re dealt by relatives just because they’re family. The song is a declaration against that, and tries to positively convey the message that nobody has to put up with it just because they’re share blood with the people hurting them. Don’t feel bound to it just because society would expect you to, always make the best decision for yourself regardless of what anybody else makes of it. You’ll be grateful you did”.
There’s a phrase you’ll hear repeatedly when in the company of Split Chain: “The Chain does what it wants”. As mantras go, it’s used by the Bristol, UK quintet as a means of encapsulating the broad-minded, unconstrained creative freedom with which they approach their art, as well as a means through which to try to make sense of the sky-rocketing trajectory the band have found themselves on.
Call it instinct, fate, divine intervention, whatever – the whims of “The Chain” have led to a moment where one thing is abundantly clear: Split Chain are one of the hottest, zeitgeist-capturing new bands in the world.
“Split Chain is something that none of us feel like we have any control of”, says frontman Bert Martinez-Cowles. “Split Chain simply does what it wants and what it needs”.
It is at this juncture in Split Chain’s journey that debut album “motionblur” arrives. Described by Bert as “a coming of age story”, the album channels the conflicting and contradictory angst, excitement, joy and pain of growing up and discovering your true sense of self. “motionblur” presents a story that speaks to both Split Chain’s members’ personal experiences and those shared together in the past few dizzying years; a visceral, kaleidoscopic wall of sound where unsettling, disorientating confusion meets a fevered adrenaline-rush. “motionblur” is an album to experience, to feel, to engulf; it’s the blissful sense of euphoria that comes with drowning in its waves.
There are shades of the quintet’s beloved Deftones, Superheaven, Narrowhead; bursts of nu-metal, and ripples of shoegaze. An emo melancholy hangs heavy. Grunge swerves in and out of view. Metal crackles under the surface. Its beauty lies in its skillfully crafted coalescence, no mean feat for an album so richly varied yet singularly focused. motionblur is at once a nostalgic homage to its 90s and early 00s cultural reference points while never once sounding anything less than thrillingly vibrant, a captivating depiction of rock’s burgeoning present and future.
As a singular statement, “motionblur” “is a record that tells you that it’s okay to be your authentic self”, Bert says. “This is the story of what we’ve been through, and this is the story of who we are today. You either let the things you have experienced define you, or you choose a different path. You can be whoever you want to be. If there’s one thing I hope people take from the album, it’s that”.
As for Split Chain themselves, motionblur is another bold step into an unknown of which they could only dream a few short years ago. The Chain, as they say, does what it wants. The key, Bert nods, is continuing to put their faith in its ways, to let their fiercely DIY ethics and purity of creative vision that has served them so well carve the path forward, organically and authentically.
“We let chaos reign”, Bert says. “And we just try to hold on”.
Pre-order & pre-save “motionblur” here.
Tracklist:
1. Under The Wire
2. bored. tired. torn
3. I’m Not Dying to Be Here
4. Rookie
5. who am i?
6. SPIT
7. greyintheblue
8. The Space in Between
9. Subside
10. Headway
11. my mistake…
UK & European Tour Dates 2025:
March 28: CARDIFF Clwb Ifor Bach
March 29: LIVERPOOL Rough Trade
March 30: EDINBURGH Legends
March 31: ABERDEEN Tunnels
Apr 01: NEWCASTLE The Grove
Apr 02: SHEFFIELD Yellow Arch
Apr 03: LEICESTER The Big Difference
Apr 04: KINGSTON Fighting Cocks
Apr 05: EXETER Cavern
Apr 09: DUBLIN Grand Social
Apr 10: BELFAST Voodoo
Apr 12: BRISTOL Rough Trade (Record Store Day show)
May 24: HATFIELD Hatfield Park – Slam Dunk Festial (South)
May 25: LEEDS Temple Newsam – Slam Dunk Festival (North)
June 05: GDAŃSK Mystic Festival (Poland)
June 09: COLOGNE Club Bahnhof Ehrenfeld (w/ Amira Elfeky)
June 14: DONINGTON Donington Park – Download Festival
June 16: LONDON Camden Assembly (w/ Amira Elfeky)
June 17: PARIS Les Etoiles (w/ Amira Elfeky)
June 21: DRESDEN Farewell Youth Fest (Germany)
June 26: YSSELSTEYN Jera On Air Festival (Netherlands)
June 28: VIVEIRO Resurrection Fest (Spain)
