Striding with self-confidence towards the release of their new album ‘Essex, Drugs and Rock and Roll’ on January 24th, Bilk’s recent singles have seen them celebrating the wild abandon of being a ‘F Up’ and getting ‘On It’ with the best of them. But even the most anarchic rock ‘n’ rollers often possess a tender heart, as the band prove with their new single ‘Summer Days’.
‘Summer Days’ introduces a switch in tone for the Essex trio as they drop their rebellious punk streak in favour of classic, laidback indie-pop melody. It’s a sound that complements frontman Sol Abrahams’ true life story of falling in love and being excited for where the relationship might be heading. Being Bilk, it’s a song that’s both relatably real and sweetly naive as best represented by the innocence of his lyrical memories: “And so we went out driving in her car til the night was young / We’d play her Smiths CD and spend the summer days having fun.”
Sol says, “‘Summer Days’ is about when I met my now girlfriend for the first time in the summer. It tells the story of how we came to be together. I’d never really written love songs before so this was all new to me, but it came from a true place and it means a lot to me.”
As with their previous singles, Sol recorded ‘Summer Days’ with his Bilk bandmates Luke Hare (bass) and Harry Gray (drums) as Andy Gannon (AIKO, The HARA) produced at sessions split between Edge Studios and Silkmill Studios.
The three singles point to the significant step up that Bilk are taking with ‘Essex, Drugs and Rock and Roll’. It still brims with freewheeling youth-gone-wild attitude, occasionally tinged with flashes of melancholic reflection, but their scrappy indie-punk heart is now the launchpad for a wider and more accomplished sound that takes in raw rock ‘n’ roll, punk, hip hop, grunge and blues.
The authenticity of their lyrics is more than matched by their dedication to their music. They’re now approaching a big breakthrough moment, but the Bilk rise certainly hasn’t been overnight. They debuted in 2018, released their first EP ‘Chipped Out’ in 2019 and then their second EP, ‘Allow It’, in 2021 – a set which opens with the unforgettably titled ‘I Got Knocked Out The Same Night England Did’. Their profile continued to grow with their self-titled debut album in 2023, which inspired Louder Than War to praise Sol’s ability to write a hook, adding, “Once one gets in your head, it’s practically impossible to get it out again.”
‘Essex, Drugs and Rock and Roll’ is available to pre-order HERE. It is available on limited signed red vinyl, black vinyl and CD while new merch designs include a t-shirt and a tote bag.
Next year will see Bilk taking their Essex rock ‘n’ roll across the UK and into Europe with a major headline tour, which includes their biggest London show to date at the Electric Ballroom. It’s on the road where the band have established much of a growing fan community, causing pandemonium at headline shows at Omeara, The 100 Club and The Garage as well as an infamous (and, as it turned out, final) Rough Trade in-store which resulted in them being banned. That incendiary exhilaration translates to festival stages too, with can’t-look-away moments during three consecutive years at Reading as well as other highlights such as Leeds, SXSW, Truck, The Great Escape and Louis Tomlinson’s Away From Home.
Tickets for their 2025 headline tour are available HERE. The dates are:
FEBRUARY
5th – Bristol, Thekla
6th – Cardiff, The Globe
7th – London, Electric Ballroom
13th – Manchester, Academy 2
14th – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
15th – Newcastle, Northumbria Students Union
16th – Glasgow, SWG3 Warehouse
19th – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
20th – Norwich, Arts Centre
21st – Birmingham, O2 Academy 2
22nd – Southampton, Engine Shed
MARCH
3rd – Paris, La Boule Noire
4th – Antwerp, Kavka Oudaan
5th – Rotterdam, Rotown
7th – Copenhagen, Ideal Bar @ Vega
8th – Hamburg, Hebebuhne
9th – Berlin, Privatclub
11th – Warsaw, Klub Hydrozagadka
12th – Krakow, Klub Gwarek
13th – Prague, Café V lese
14th – Vienna, Chelsea
15th – Munich, Milla
16th – Milan, Circolo Magnolia
26th – Cork, Winthrop Avenue
27th – Galway, Roisin Dubh
28th – Belfast, Oh Yeah Music Centre
29th – Dublin, The Workman’s Club
