The Orielles have announced their 4th studio album, ‘Only You Left‘, a meticulous yet exploratory record which sees them emerge anew from their 7-year cycle where they began with Silver Dollar Moment (2018).
Recorded between Hamburg and the car-free Greek Island of Hydra, and produced by long-time collaborator, Joel Anthony Patchett, the album builds on the experimentation of Tableau (2022) but all the while finding a home in the familiar.
Released on Friday 13th March 2026, the Manchester based 3-piece consisting of Esmé Dee Hand-Halford (bass & vocals), Sidonie Dee Hand-Halford (drums & vocals) and Henry Carlyle Wade (guitar & vocals), have today also shared ‘Three Halves’ the first single to be taken from the album.
Urgent in places and dreamlike in others, ‘Three Halves’ was so-baptised when Henry stitched three recordings together on Ableton and needed a working title. What began as a temporary placeholder soon became a theme for Esmé to riff on, a metaphor for the trio and their shared connection.
• LISTEN TO ‘THREE HALVES’ • WATCH THE VIDEO •
Talking about ‘Three Halves’, the band said:
“Citing ideas that we took interest in during the early stages of writing the new record, ‘Three Halves’ flips between its absurd contrasts as the name suggests. Built upon a soundscape of droning organs, guitar, and cello it floats between noise and emptiness, precision, and catharsis, welcoming each half leads into the next.”
• ‘Only You Left’ •
• TRACK-LIST • PRE-ORDER THE VINYL & CD • DINKED EDITION • RELEASED ON MARCH 13TH, 2026 •
“You’ve got to die and be reborn between albums,” begins Henry Wade, guitarist for The Orielles, describing the foundations of the band’s fourth studio album, Only You Left. “It comes naturally,” adds singer and bassist Esmé Hand-Halford, “it’s not something we consciously do.”
Through this process of creative renewal, the Manchester-based trio – completed by drummer Sidonie Hand-Halford – have managed to weather a pandemic, defy the fickleness of a trend-led music industry, and emerge, phoenix-like, with something familiarly Orielles, yet altogether different.
Recorded in two locations – Hydra and Hamburg – over the summer of 2024, the 11 tracks of Only You Left sees the band consolidate the bold experimentation of their previous LP, Tableau (2022), with a return to the more stripped-back, song-led approach of their early origins.
“There’s nothing more trad than a three-piece,” quips Henry, in reference to the band’s decision to return to their roots as a trio. Originally from Halifax, the Orielles first came to recognition in 2018 with their debut album, the indie-rock Silver Dollar Moment, which is approaching its eighth birthday in February 2026. “These things come in like seven year cycles. So we’ve come in like a full circle back to a familiar place, just as different people.”
By exploring binaries and contrasts, the Orielles are finding shapes in the chaos and confusion of the world around us – it’s an undertaking that benefits from more than 15 years of close collaboration, driven by friendship and the artistic compulsion to find meaning in music.
• READ MORE ABOUT THE ALBUM HERE •
The album artwork features a specially commissioned triptych built by Louie Morris, continuing the themes within ’Three Halves’. The band describes the process of its creation below.
Building the album artwork as a physical object, a sculptural form to photograph, made on hinged wooden board and constructed to look like a modernised replica of the 14th century originals, we hope that our triptych will continue to wear and decay, and as we keep it, highlight imperfections and passing of time.
The DINKED edition features a bonus CD, composed by Academy Award winner Eiko Ishibashi, using the field recordings the band picked up during their time in Hydra and Hamburg.
Finally, the band were recently announced as main support on the forthcoming English Teacher tour in November. They also play their own headline shows in the new year, including some gigs as part of Independent Venue Week.
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