French alternative and industrial rock band Bottle Next is spotlighting “Half Wit,” the lead track from its five-track EP “Echoes of life”, released 30 January 2026 via Le Cri du Charbon on CD digisleeve, black 12″ vinyl and digital formats. Side-Line first reported the EP’s release in February 2026; the Lyon-based group, now a quintet, continues to promote the record.

Bottle Next mixes industrial rock with alternative rock riffing and arena-scaled hooks. Score A/V Group, the EP’s PR representative, lists A Perfect Circle, Don Broco, Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age and Refused as reference points for the record.

Inside Bottle Next’s ‘Echoes of life’ EP

“Echoes of life” comprises five tracks: “Hostile,” “On & On,” “Dance Of Love,” “Scorn” and “Half Wit.” Drums were tracked at Ohmnibus Studio with Greg Aliot, and vocals were recorded at Convulsound Studio with Thibaud Bernard, who also mixed and mastered the EP; guitars, bass and keyboards were recorded at home by the band. Side-Line first covered the EP’s release in February 2026, when the four preceding singles, “Hostile,” “On & On,” “Scorn” and “Half Wit,” had each already been issued with an official video. “Dance Of Love” is the EP’s one previously unreleased track. The band’s Bandcamp profile notes a new live setup built around the current quintet line-up.

About Bottle Next

Bottle Next is a French alternative and industrial rock band from Lyon, formed in the early 2010s by guitarist/singer Pierre Rettien and drummer Martin Ecuer as an acoustic guitar-and-drums duo. The band released its self-titled recording “Bottle Next” in 2014, followed by the album “Bad Horses” in 2017 and the “Bonus & B-sides” collection in 2018, both issued via Le Cri du Charbon. With the 2020 album “drift” and single “Superorder,” Bottle Next moved toward a heavier, industrial-inflected sound and expanded from a duo to a quintet, with Rettien shifting to bass and vocals alongside an electric guitarist, an additional acoustic guitarist and a percussionist/keyboard player. The band issued the live album “The Drifted Live” in 2022. Four singles released through 2025, “Hostile,” “On & On,” “Scorn” and “Half Wit,” were compiled with the new track “Dance Of Love” into the five-track EP “Echoes of life,” released 30 January 2026 via Le Cri du Charbon. Bottle Next continues to promote the EP as a quintet.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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The French alternative / industrial rock band Bottle Next have released the new five-track EP “Echoes of life” via Le Cri du Charbon. The record is out now on CD digisleeve, black 12″ vinyl and as a digital release.

“Echoes of life” collects the recent singles “Hostile”, “On & On”, “Scorn” and “Half Wit” alongside “Dance Of Love”.

The recordings combine drums tracked at Ohmnibus Studio with Greg Aliot and vocals recorded at Convulsound Studio with Thibaud Bernard. Guitars, bass and keyboards were recorded at home by Bottle Next before mixing and mastering at Convulsound Studio, again by Thibaud Bernard.

About Bottle Next

Bottle Next are a French band from Lyon who originally emerged as a guitar-and-drums hard-folk duo mixing amplified acoustic guitar, groove-driven drumming and rock vocals.

The core of the project formed in the early 2010s, by which time guitarist / singer and saxophonist Pierre Rettien and drummer / sampler operator Martin Ecuer had already been working together for several years. In 2011 they recorded their first songs in a studio in the Ardèche, then moved towards a first long-form release. Bottle Next released their self-titled recording “Bottle Next” in 2014.

A crowdfunding campaign in 2016 outlined plans for a debut album titled “Bad Horses” which followed in 2017. The “Bonus & B-sides” collection in 2018 gathered additional studio tracks and live recordings from the “Bad Horses”, with the material mixed by Daniel Bergstrand and published under Le Cri du Charbon.

The band then shifted towards a more explicitly modern metal and industrial-inflected direction with the album “drift” in 2020 and the single “Superorder” the same year, both again released via Le Cri du Charbon. In 2022 they issued the live album “The Drifted Live”.

From 2020 onwards Bottle Next expanded from a duo to a quintet. Pierre Rettien moved from acoustic guitar to bass and vocals, joined by an electric guitarist, an additional acoustic guitarist and a percussionist / machinist / keyboard player.

By the end of 2025 the new formation had issued four digital singles: “Hostile”, “On & On”, “Scorn” and “Half Wit”. Each were accompanied by official videos. The 2026 EP “Echoes of life” gatheres the singles and “Dance Of Love” into a single, label-backed physical and digital edition.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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