Immersion conjure lumbering beasts and cosmic dub on new single ‘Megafauna’

Some duos make records. Immersion make weather systems. The long-running electronic project from Wire’s Colin Newman and Minimal Compact’s Malka Spigel has returned with Megafauna, a brooding, dub-soaked new single and video — and the latest preview of their forthcoming album ‘What Is Lost Will Return,’ out September 4 via their own label, swim~.

Megafauna is one of three instrumentals on the record, and it leans hard into shadow — a slow-moving, ominous groove built for lumbering through fog rather than dancing through it. It sits in deliberate contrast to the album’s brighter moments, including lead single We Don’t Need Your Validation.

The Sound of Something Ancient and Slow

Newman and Spigel describe the track’s title as a direct nod to its sonic character:

“The title ‘Megafauna’ reflects the music – lumbering large creatures moving slowly to the beat and are drawn to the sound of a primordial piper.“

Journalist John Robb put it in even more cosmic terms, calling the track a slice of dark, drifting energy — Immersion at their most atmospheric, breaking free of their own established soundscapes.

The accompanying video leans into that otherworldly quality, featuring Ivan Morison’s “Soft Machines” sculptures on Hove seafront, captured during Brighton Festival, alongside footage of a drum performance from the city’s “Sense of Unity with Dundu” event.

Anti-Nostalgia, Fully Intact

What Is Lost Will Return marks Immersion’s second “pure” release in as many years, following 2025’s WTF??, and their third UK tour since 2024 — a pace that would suggest a band chasing momentum, except Immersion have never seemed interested in chasing anything. The title, fittingly, comes from a desire to look past the chaos of constantly saying “what the f*ck” and find what actually endures.

Written and recorded in a short, instinctive burst, the album captures something immediate — equal parts hook-driven and forward-looking, without sacrificing the minimalist restraint that’s become an Immersion signature. Malka’s dreamy vocal lines and Colin’s dry, semi-spoken observations trade off throughout, creating a push-pull that feels less like two singers sharing space and more like two artists finishing each other’s thoughts — which, after this many years of collaboration, they basically are.

As the duo put it, the album sits at the intersection of joy and melancholy — hopeful without being naive, wry without losing warmth. The title track, What Is Lost Will Return, carries the album’s emotional center of gravity, offering something rare these days: actual hope, delivered without irony.

‘What Is Lost Will Return’ track list

1. Nephology
2. Breaking Free, Diversity, Evolution
3. We Don’t Need Your Validation
4. Megafauna
5. What Is Lost Will Return
6. Childsplay
7. Radio Signals
8. Frequencies & Echoes

Immersion Tour Dates

06.27 – Leigh Folk Festival – Leigh-On-Sea, UK
09.09 – Rough Trade – Liverpool
09.10 – Sneaky Pete’s – Edinburgh
09.11 – The White Hotel – Manchester
09.12 – Lubberfiend – Newcastle
09.13 – Voodoo Daddy’s – Norwich, UK
09.17 – Ramsgate Music Hall – Ramsgate, UK
09.18 – Rich Mix – London, UK
09.19 – Alphabet – Brighton, UK
11.04 – Artisan Tap – Stoke-On-Trent, UK
11.05 – The Adelphi – Hull, UK
11.14 – Patronaat – Haarlem, NL
11.15 – Doornroosje – Nijmegen, NL
11.15 – Paard van Troje – Den Haag, NL

‘What Is Lost Will Return’ is out September 4 via swim~.