Overmono Are Back And Pure Devotion Is Going To Break You
Overmono just announced their second album Pure Devotion. August 7. Lead single Lockup is out now and it already hits harder than most albums do in full.
Two days ago Overmono dropped an album announcement and a lead single at the same time and the internet did exactly what it was supposed to do. It lost its mind a little. Tom and Ed Russell have that effect on people. Pure Devotion is their second album, out August 7 on XL Recordings, named after the live event series the duo launched in 2024. Eleven tracks. Four featured artists. One crash cymbal that was baked in an oven covered in coffee grounds, crisps, and vinegar. This is not a normal album announcement.
Before forming Overmono, Tom produced hard techno under the name Truss while Ed made drum and bass and rave inspired tracks as Tessela. The two eventually packed a car full of gear, hired a cottage in Wales with no agenda, and came out the other side with a new project. That project went on to release Good Lies in 2023, peak at number 11 on the UK Albums Chart, earn a Metacritic score of 83, and take the duo to Coachella and sold out headline shows in Brooklyn, Toronto, London, Osaka, and Tokyo. Their audio visual live show won Best Live Act at the DJ Mag Best of British Awards. Pure Devotion is where the story goes next and based on everything that has come out so far, it is going in hard.
How They Actually Made It
The album grew directly out of the Pure Devotion live event series, from headlining Glastonbury's West Holts to selling out Alexandra Palace and curating Manchester's Warehouse Project. The core ideas were crystallised through isolated writing retreats to Spain and Iceland with nothing but two synths and an FX unit.
What happened in those rooms is the most interesting part. They ran tape over magnets, blew up some speakers, and finally used a dirt cheap overclocked FX unit they picked up years ago in Bromley. They tracked vocals through an old tannoy speaker in the basement. They ran synths through a 1930s train station announcement speaker to get the right amount of twang. And then there is the cymbal. They oven baked a crash cymbal covered in coffee grounds, crisps, and vinegar, crediting producer Sylvia Massy for that particular technique.
The point is not that these are weird studio tricks for the sake of a good interview story. The point is that Overmono are genuinely trying to capture something physical. They describe the album as choosing emotion over desensitisation and craft over efficiency. In 2026 when most electronic music is produced entirely in the box without a single piece of hardware touching it, that commitment to texture and physicality is not a small thing. You can hear it in Lockup and the album has not even come out yet.
Lockup Is Already Living Rent Free in Everyone's Head
The lead single arrived after Tom and Ed fell down a rabbit hole reading Simon Reynolds' Rip It Up and Start Again, excited by the impulsive rule breaking of the post punk era. They ended up sampling cult Birmingham band Fast Relief. The result is a bruising but euphoric track built from pounding basslines, tender synth chords, and that Fast Relief sample sitting right in the middle of it. It does not sound like post punk. It sounds like Overmono at full tilt, which is better than almost anything else on the electronic music calendar right now.
The announcement arrives alongside a new visual directed by longtime collaborator Rollo Jackson. Watch it. Then listen to the track again. Then go check the album tracklist and try not to spiral about how good Even Angels Ghost featuring Kindora is probably going to be.
The Full Tracklist
Lockup
Knight In Shining Prada feat. John Joseph Holt
Slowmotion
Even Angels Ghost feat. Kindora
Barum
Mialon
Laxbrook
Gem Lingo (ovr now) feat. Ruthven
Adre
Ballad feat. Kindora and Rock Floyd
After The Rain
Eleven tracks. Four collaborators. British poet John Joseph Holt on Knight In Shining Prada, Kindora on two separate tracks, Ruthven from the Paul Institute on Gem Lingo, and Rock Floyd closing it out on Ballad. The sequencing alone tells you this record has been thought about carefully. After The Rain as a closer is either going to be devastating or euphoric. Possibly both.
Where They Are Playing This Summer
Tour dates for 2026 include Lightning In A Bottle in Bakersfield on May 22, Movement in Detroit on May 24, Primavera Sound in Barcelona on June 4, We Love Green in Paris on June 6, Boiler Room Festival in Nottingham on June 26, Down The Rabbit Hole in Ewijk on July 5, and O Days in Copenhagen on July 31. Then Lost Village on August 29. The album release date coincides with a headline show at the Old Royal Naval College in London on August 7, their biggest London show to date.
A limited edition numbered white label vinyl was available to order for 48 hours only with a midnight BST deadline on May 14. If you missed it, that is on you. The standard preorder is still live at overmono.com on LP, deluxe 2xLP, CD, and cassette.
Pure Devotion drops August 7. Go listen to Lockup right now. Then set a reminder. Then do it again.
