Ian Pickering previews new The Noise Who Runs album ‘RE: GEN X’ with ‘Commercial Road’

The Noise Who Runs
The Lille, France-based alternative pop and dark electronic rock act The Noise Who Runs has released the new single “Commercial Road” . The track previews the 10-track album “RE: GEN X”, which is due on May 8 via TNWR Records. The project is led by Ian Pickering, known for his writing work with Sneaker Pimps and work with Front Line Assembly.
“Commercial Road” is presented as a study of moral paralysis, transactional culture, and public complicity. Pickering says the song “asks what we tolerate, what we ignore, and what we quietly become as a result.” The single was written by Pickering, performed and produced by The Noise Who Runs, with additional production, mixing, and mastering by Colin C at The Cell Studios. The “Commercial Road” video was created by Pickering as well.
The album continues the line opened by the earlier preview tracks “The Bodies Are Under The Bus Again” and “Bang Bang”. Pickering describes the forthcoming album “RE: GEN X” as “a reply to my own generation,” reckoning with passivity, fatigue, and the collapse of public responsibility.
The full tracklist is: “The Summer Talking”, “Bang Bang”, “Trust Me I’m a Psychopath”, “This Song Sucks (Mind the Gap)”, “Just The English Way”, “The Bodies Are Under The Bus Again”, “Home Front Truths”, “We Are Breach”, “Commercial Road”, and “All Assuming You”.
About The Noise Who Runs
The Noise Who Runs started in Lille, France in 2019 as an Anglo-French project formed by Ian Pickering and guitarist Felipe Goes. The project formed after Pickering moved from Hartlepool in north-east England to France in 2016. The project name came from Pickering’s association with the French phrase “O bruit qui cour”.
Before launching The Noise Who Runs, Pickering had already built a long writing history around British electronic music including Sneaker Pimps (“Becoming X”, “Splinter”, and “Bloodsport”). He further worked with Front Line Assembly, Transporter, Valerie Renay, Horrorfall. In 2014 he released the solo album “Left Handed Tendencies”.
The Noise Who Runs’ first releases arrived during the pandemic period, when live plans were interrupted and the focus shifted to recording. “The First of Two Sides of a Double-Headed Coin” and “The Other Side of the Same Double-Headed Coin” were released in 2020, followed by “High Time in Lo-Fi” on March 6, 2022, then “These Will Be Your Gods” in January 2023. That was followed by “Beautiful Perhaps” in February 2023, “Takes A Long Cold Look And Then The Kitchen Sink” in March 2023, and the 14-track debut album “Preteretrospective” in April 2023.
The release flow continued through “New York To L.A. In 2-And-A-Half Minutes” in May 2023, “Tune Out, Turn Off, Drop In” in November 2023, “Mars Attached” in December 2023, and the EP “Come and Join the Beautiful Army” on January 12, 2024.
The first “RE: GEN X” tracks to be released were “The Bodies Are Under The Bus Again” on December 19, 2025, then “Bang Bang” on March 10, 2026, and now “Commercial Road”.
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