IST IST announce highly anticipated fifth studio album "Dagger"
IST IST are a band we at LiveWire have followed for a long time. One of the first reviews we carried was their debut album “Architecture” back in 2020 and we were hooked. So when we heard that they were releasing their fifth studio album “Dagger” out on 6th February 2026, of course the first thing we did was order a copy lol.
”Dagger” is the follow up to last years last year’s acclaimed Top 30 album “Light A Bigger Fire” and hot on the heels of the release of their latest single I Am The Fear. Check out the singles video below:
With a swelling fanbase across Europe and some of their biggest UK shows to date on the horizon, including a totemic hometown show at Manchester’s Albert Hall, the hungry, anthemic quality of Dagger” feels destined to cut through even the most capacious of spaces.
Wasting no time to sit on their laurels, IST IST launched into laying down the bones of what would become their upcoming fifth album. As guitarist Mat Peters reflects:
“We started working on the album as soon as we got back from the European tour in late 2024. The momentum you carry from a tour into the studio is powerful and you’re still in that live headspace, so the music you write in those moments tends to be more visceral. You go with the flow a little bit more rather than it being methodical. What you end up with is a collection of songs already primed for the stage.”
Alive with ambitions for the band’s next evolutionary stage, IST IST approached esteemed producer Joe Cross (Hurts, Courteeners, Slow Readers Club), tasking him with creating a conduit with which to conduct their big ideas. Rekindling the chemistry that had spawned their previous work together, pretty soon, something special began to materialise from the partnership again. Bass player Andy Keating adds:
“We wanted to make some braver and more brash choices during the recording process. We wanted to make this record for ourselves first and foremost. There was no agenda beyond capturing the post-tour energy and playing the sort of things we wanted to listen to. The result of that is our most direct album since our debut ‘Architecture’.
Lead single and album opener I Am The Fear is demonstrative of this brave new world; an electrifying juggernaut piled high with oscillating synth strokes, meteoric basslines, and stacked guitar tones.
Whilst the intrinsic, shadowy essence of IST IST’s trademark sound remains firmly in place, a panoply of new influences and inspiration ripples across these 10 tracks with a striking sense of redefinition.
From the lightning bolt pop immediacy of Warning Signs, to the skyscraping synth reachings of The Echo; the loping rock swagger of Burning, to the scintillating sci-fi soundtrack-primed Encouragement, and the spacious ambience of Song For Someone, “Dagger” glitters from the darkness with luminescent melodies and incisive hooks.
“Dagger” is out on 6th February 2026 via Kind Violence Records and is available to pre-order now HERE.
While “Dagger” charts another seismic step forward for the band in terms of confidence, control, and execution, fans will be reassured to hear that it has come at no sacrifice to their modus operandi. Completely self-funded, self-recorded, and due to be released completely independently via their own Kind Violence Records imprint, five albums in, “Dagger” symbolises the driven DIY ethic that has been programmed into IST IST’s DNA since day dot.
Catch IST IST marking their decade long career and teasing new music from ‘DAGGER’ at the following UK shows:
IST IST - 2025/26 TOUR DATES
Friday 28th November - Leeds - Warehouse
Saturday 29th November - Glasgow - Oran Mor
Friday 5th December - London - 229
Saturday 6th December - Birmingham - O2 Academy2
Friday 1st May 2026 - Manchester - Albert Hall
w/ Support from DESPERATE JOURNALIST + THE YOUTH PLAY
Tickets for all shows on sale HERE
Photo (c) Tom White/Black Rock Creative
Over the years, IST IST have forged a formidable reputation on word of mouth excitement, amassing a dedicated cult following in the process. Operating with a fierce northern DIY work ethic, the band have an ever-growing back catalogue of successful studio and live releases. Self-releasing their entire repertoire through their own Kind Violence Records label, the band’s output has been championed by BBC Radio 1 and BBC 6Music, Radio X, XS Manchester, KINK FM in the Netherlands, The Times and more.
Their acclaimed fourth record “Light A Bigger Fire” reached 25th in the UK Official Album Charts in 2024, with John Robb praising the record as “glorious yet introspective 21st-century pop music” in a five star review on Louder Than War.
Taking the record out on the road last year, over 8,000 people across thirteen countries turned out in force at iconic venues such as the Paradiso in Amsterdam and New Century Hall in Manchester to support the band in what stands as one of their most successful European tours to date.
Riding this wave into 2025, IST IST returned to Europe for further dates including their SOLD OUT debut Italian shows, and subsequently released two live albums ‘ON FIRE’ and ‘Live In Italy’. As they celebrate their 10th year in business, the band will be book-ending this year with a run of major shows back in the UK - in Leeds, Glasgow, London, and Birmingham across late November and December. All before a landmark year in the making in 2026, whereby IST IST will not only play their biggest hometown show to date the salubrious Albert Hall in Manchester, but will also release their unmissable fifth album “Dagger” on 6th February 2026.
