Hull’s LIFE are back with Wild Grasses, a euphoric new single that sets the tone for their eagerly anticipated fourth album ‘Abstract / Natural’, arriving June 19th via Launchpad+ and EMI North.
Written during a stint in the Lake District, Wild Grasses is exactly the kind of track that makes you want to lace up your boots and head for the hills — bursting with euphoric synth lines, strummed acoustic guitars, and rapturous group vocals that feel like a campfire singalong with your favorite people. It’s the album opener, and honestly, it earns that spot.
The track picks up thematically where lead single The Dollywaggon left off, leaning into ideas of journey, belonging, and adventure. Vocalist Mez Sanders-Green peppers the lyrics with geographical land references — fells, dodds, munros, trigs — grounding the song in the landscape that inspired it. When he declares “I belong to wild grasses”, you believe every word.
Mez breaks it down himself:
“Wild Grasses was the first song the band wrote from the new album. In many ways it laid the foundation for the whole record in terms of what we were aiming for sonically… The overall theme is about journey, belonging, adventure and acceptance. I think the music itself is pretty joyous and euphoric, like the feeling of being sat around a campfire with like-minded folk.“
‘Abstract / Natural’ is shaping up to be LIFE’s most ambitious record yet. The whole thing started not in a rehearsal room but in a poetry book Mez had been filling during his outdoor adventures — musings on landscape, nature, love, acceptance, and letting go. He brought those “wonky lullabies” to bandmates Stewart Baxter, Lydia Palmeira, and Mick Sanders, who shaped them into vivid, fully-realized arrangements. The hills, ridges, and landmarks Mez encountered became characters: Hen Comb, Pavey Arc, Sergeant Man, The Grey Friar, The Dollywaggon.
Produced by Stewart Baxter and Oliver Varga, mixed by James Kenosha, and mastered by Stephen Kerrison, the album was recorded at LIFE’s own Hull studio, The Moon Factory — a space the band built themselves on the banks of the river and now run as a creative hub for emerging Northern artists. That kind of community-first ethos is pure LIFE, and it comes through in every note.
‘Abstract / Natural’ track list
- Wild Grasses
- The Dollywaggon
- Turning In
- Thistles Kiss
- Mermaid Feet
- My Yan
- Drinking Games
- Sun In Nancy
- Buried Giant
- Morning Fog
Catch LIFE Live
The band plays a full run of instore dates and headline shows lined up through the autumn.
- Tuesday 23rd June — Brighton, Resident (instore)
- Wednesday 24th June — London, Rough Trade East (instore)
- Thursday 25th June — Liverpool, Jacaranda (instore)
- Friday 26th June — Leeds, Jumbo Records (instore)
- Friday 24th–Sunday 26th July — Deer Shed Festival, North Yorkshire
- Thursday 1st October — Newcastle, The Grove
- Friday 2nd October — Lincoln, Southside
- Saturday 3rd October — Hebden Bridge, Trades Club
- Tuesday 6th October — London, Moth Club
- Wednesday 7th October — Southampton, The Joiners
- Thursday 8th October — Bristol, Strange Brew
- Friday 9th October — Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
‘Abstract / Natural’ is out June 19th via Launchpad+ / EMI North. Stream Wild Grasses now and get ready — this one’s going to be big.
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