Album Announcement: Hello Baby, Okay Release Date: February 11th

W: Bethany Williams. I:Nic Kane

With ‘Pink Lemon,’ Elder Island have successfully hit the refresh button. They have traded the brooding for the bright without losing the intricate musicality that gained them a cult following. If this single and the previously released ‘Ordinary Love’ are any indication, Hello Baby, Okay will be the sound of a band falling in love with music making all over again—open, instinctual, and deeply connected to the groove.

After a period of introspection and a deliberate step back from the touring grind, Bristol trio Elder Island have returned with a statement of intent that is as vibrant as it is necessary. Today, the band announces their third studio album, Hello Baby, Okay, accompanied by the release of its second single, the effervescent ‘Pink Lemon’.

If their previous LP, the critically acclaimed Swimming Static (2021), was a meticulously layered studio creation, Hello Baby, Okay promises a "hard reset"—a rejection of the passive, "coffee-shop" background listening that so much modern electronica is funnelled into. Instead, Elder Island are pivoting back to the kinetic, sweaty energy of the dancefloor culture that first united Katy Sargent, Luke Thornton, and David Havard during their Bristol university days.

Following the release of ‘Ordinary Love’ in November, ‘Pink Lemon’ serves as a perfect ambassador for this new era. It is a track that feels less like a production and more like a memory of summer captured on analogue film.

Where the band is often known for brooding, immersive soundscapes, ‘Pink Lemon’ is unashamedly joyful. The track channels a specific brand of sun-drenched soul-pop, echoing the sophisticated grooves of Phoenix and the textural warmth of early Blood Orange. The production is steeped in nostalgia, utilizing classic 90s filters—specifically the Mutronic Mutator and Electrix Filter Factory, famously employed by Daft Punk—to give the song a "vintage character" that feels lived-in and warm.

Built around a silky, bright guitar riff and Sargent’s unmistakable vocals, the track balances a hazy retro-tinge with undeniable forward momentum. It is expansive, groove-led, and designed to move bodies. As the band puts it, the song is about "escaping monotony" and the desire to be "whisked away from the everyday." It succeeds; listening to it feels like stepping out of a grey room into a golden hour glow.

The upcoming album appears to be a direct counterpoint to the heaviness of recent years. Shaped by "joy, release, and euphoria," the record was born from free-flowing jam sessions rather than painstaking studio layering. This shift to spontaneity is audible in the new material, which draws from an eclectic sonic palette including African disco 12-inches, the drum programming of Overmono, and the funk of William Onyeabor.

The band describes the creative process as a way to reconnect with their roots—the nights out and club culture that originally bound them together. With art references as playful as a "Picasso of a cat and a lobster mid-fight," Hello Baby, Okay seems poised to be a record where hedonism and devotion coexist, anchored by the hypnotic vocals and driving rhythms that have made Elder Island one of the UK’s most distinctive live acts.

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Video History

Elder Island’s creative "reset" isn’t just audible; it is a full-spectrum aesthetic overhaul that bridges the gap between their immersive live reputation and their new studio spontaneity. With the release of the video for ‘Ordinary Love', the trio are curating a world that looks exactly how the new record sounds: warm, tactile, and steeped in "analogue holiday" nostalgia. By marrying the "sun glare" and "vintage character" of their production with imagery that feels like a rediscovered memory, the band ensures that the "joy and euphoria" of Elder Island is a multi-sensory experience, proving their visual storytelling is as meticulously crafted as their "90s club culture" grooves.