July 2, 2026

Lone Assembly sign to Metropolis Records for ‘Knots & Chains’ CD and vinyl

Swiss post-punk band Lone Assembly sign to Metropolis Records, which issues CD and vinyl editions of debut album “Knots & Chains” on 18 September 2026.

Lone Assembly - Photo by Margaux Fazio

Lone Assembly - Photo by Margaux Fazio

🇺🇦 Side-Line stands with Ukraine - Show your Support

Swiss post-punk and darkwave band Lone Assembly have signed to Metropolis Records, which will release CD and vinyl editions of their debut album “Knots & Chains” on 18 September 2026. The band self-released the record digitally on 27 February 2026 and confirmed the Metropolis deal on 1 July 2026.

Metropolis Records to release Lone Assembly’s ‘Knots & Chains’

The agreement puts Lone Assembly’s “Knots & Chains” on Metropolis Records for a wider physical run. The band first issued the album on 27 February 2026 in three forms: a digital download, a three-panel CD digisleeve, and a limited black-and-white splatter vinyl pressing of 799 copies with a two-sided poster. Metropolis follows on 18 September 2026 with new CD and vinyl editions.

“Knots & Chains” runs to ten tracks, opening with “Call of the Swift” and closing with “A Dark Score”. The record examines control in several forms: the control others exert, the control people cultivate in themselves, and the control imposed by the places they live. Vocalist Raphaël Bressler describes the sequence as one arc rather than a set of separate songs: “The album takes shape like a cycle, moving from suffocation to openness, from closed spaces to greater, albeit fragile, breathing space.”

The album’s third single, “You’re Pulling at the Same Strings”, arrived with a music video in February 2026. It followed the earlier singles “The Pain Keeper” and “In the Open”, both released in 2025 and both carried onto the album alongside “Nocturnal Vision”, “The City Works Like This” and “My Life’s Solid”.

Metropolis Records, the US independent label, has added other European post-punk and electronic acts to its roster in recent years. Side-Line reported the label deal when Then Comes Silence signs to Metropolis Records and announces new post-punk album, and again when Hunter As a Horse signs to Metropolis Records and drops new single ‘Lighthouse’.

Lone Assembly are playing European festival and club dates through 2026, including the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland on 3 July and Nocturnal Culture Night in Deutzen, Germany, on 4 September, with further shows in Germany and Poland into November.

About Lone Assembly

Lone Assembly are a four-piece from Switzerland: Raphaël Bressler on vocals and keyboards, Glenn Le Meur on guitar, Jim Bodeman on bass, and Romain Segu on drums. The band mix cold, 1980s-rooted new wave, post-punk and darkwave with romantic synth-pop.

They began releasing music in 2023 with the single “Seven Souls”, followed by “All Around Me” in early 2024 and the debut EP “That Never Happened” in April 2024 through Irascible Distribution, a release dedicated to the memory of a lost loved one. An extended version of the EP appeared in 2025, alongside the singles “The Pain Keeper” and “In the Open”, both of which carried onto the first album.

“Knots & Chains” arrived on 27 February 2026 as the band’s first full-length, released on digital, CD and limited splatter vinyl through their own channels. The Metropolis Records signing, confirmed on 1 July 2026, sets a wider CD and vinyl release for 18 September 2026 and places the debut on the US label.

Since you’re here …

… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading Side-Line Magazine than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can - and we refuse to add annoying advertising. So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

Side-Line’s independent journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we want to push the artists we like and who are equally fighting to survive.

If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as 5 US$, you can support Side-Line Magazine – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The donations are safely powered by Paypal.

Select a Donation Option (USD)

Enter Donation Amount (USD)