The Wolfgang Press announce new album ‘Asylum Variations’ on Downwards
The Wolfgang Press release their new album “Asylum Variations” on Downwards Records on September 25, 2026, led by the single “Speakers Don’t Speak”.
The Wolfgang Press, the London post-punk group, will release their new album “Asylum Variations” on September 25, 2026 through Downwards Records, on vinyl, CD and digital. The Wolfgang Press “Asylum Variations” set is led by the single “Speakers Don’t Speak”, issued with an official video, and follows the 2024 reunion album “A 2nd Shape”.
Recorded at Metway Studio in Brighton, the album reunites Michael Allen on vocals and bass, Andrew Gray on guitar and Stephen Gray on synthesisers and electronics. The band tracked the songs directly to ADAT before reworking them in the studio.
The opening track “Speakers Don’t Speak” moves on a propulsive, repetitive beat, processed guitars and analogue synths.
‘Asylum Variations’: tracklist and recording
The album collects nine tracks: “Speakers Don’t Speak”, “Blood On The Leaves”, “Lizard”, “Sail By”, “Bind Us”, “He Who Makes Rivers”, “The Art Of Writing”, “Embrace The Light” and “Man Made Heaven”. On the closing “Man Made Heaven”, Allen is joined by his daughters for a repeated coda. Chris Bigg created the album artwork. Pre-orders are open through Boomkat.
Allen traces the album’s title to Edward Elgar’s “Enigma Variations” and to a thread he heard running through the songs: “The title is taken directly from Elgar’s Enigma Variations, where each piece is a portrait of a friend, family member and or acquaintance and supposedly has a hidden melody. With our album I felt that lyrically there was a thread that ran through the whole piece. The world has become increasingly unstable, both locally and globally, and each track is a visceral response to how I and others have been impacted by this change and how we are navigating through it.”
The Wolfgang Press tour dates
The band confirmed three live shows around the release, with the London date billed as a Real Sounds event:
- 10 October 2026 – Brighton, UK – Green Door Store
- 24 October 2026 – Łódź, Poland – Soundedit Festival
- 30 January 2027 – London, UK – 100 Club
About The Wolfgang Press
The Wolfgang Press formed in London in 1983, around Michael Allen, Mark Cox and Andrew Gray. The members came out of the post-punk groups Rema-Rema and Mass; Rema-Rema’s 1980 EP “Wheel In The Roses” was among the first records to carry the 4AD logo. Signed to 4AD, the band released “The Burden Of Mules” in 1983, “Standing Up Straight” in 1986, “Bird Wood Cage” in 1988, “Queer” in 1991 and “Funky Little Demons” in 1995.
The 1992 US single “A Girl Like You”, from “Queer”, reached number two on the US Billboard Modern Rock chart and was later recorded by Tom Jones. After “Funky Little Demons”, the band stopped releasing new music for nearly three decades. Michael Allen and Andrew Gray reconvened for “A 2nd Shape”, issued by Downwards Records on September 27, 2024, with Andrew’s brother Stephen Gray replacing Cox. “Asylum Variations”, due September 25, 2026, is their second album since reforming.
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