The sophomore album from the northern English rockers Static Dress is officially on the way, 4 years after their groundbreaking debut Rouge Carpet Disaster. After months of cryptic teases spanning YouTube channels, newsletters, ARGs, a Call of Duty: Black Ops-inspired minigame courtesy of dev wizard Sam Beevors, and an intimate London "Live Death Display" reveal show, Injury Episode is real. The result of years of work and secrecy, Injury Episode promises a darker, more personal record compared to their previous endeavor.
"This album is basically a big part of coming to terms with things that happened to you, trying to overcome them and move past them and work on from them.” - Singer Olli Appleyard in an interview with KERRANG!
The announcement was also paired with the release of the album's second single, "Nostalgia Kills", featuring post-hardcore legends and friends of the band, Underoath, 2 years after they toured together on the They're Only Chasing Safety 20th Anniversary Tour. It's a beautiful celebration of old and new.
The track features a wonderful evolution of the sound from earlier works ("For The Attention Of..." comes to mind in specific), combining old with new effortlessly, and the feature is reminiscent of works on Define The Great Line. I'm being as vague as possible, as it's a track that really needs to be experienced to believed. Static Dress continue to raise the bar not only sonically, but visually as well.
The music video for "Nostalgia Kills" is the band's most ambitious to date, and a new favorite. Continuing the lore from the previous music video, "Human Props", the track shows the band playing in an eery black tiled room as rain pours in from above, drenching the band instantly. The band is swapped out for shots of the corpse of one of the twin characters (either Sarah or Maeve) being operated on by men in half-masks with the same vulture-esque gaze as the paparazzi characters from "Human Props". The video itself is bigger, more bombastic, and the band's most ambitious effort to date, yet it's undeniably Static Dress, with Appleyard manning the directors chair alongside previous "Human Props" collaborator Zak Pinchin. (notably known for his work on the video for Loathe's Two Way Mirror.)
Take a look for yourself below:
"Injury Episode" will release on May 29th, 2026 via Sumerian Records.
Album artwork and tracklist can be found below.
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- Nostalgia Kills ft. Underoath
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- human props
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The album is now available for preorder via the band's website, Sumerian (US/UK,), and third party retailers.
