Sleaford Mods are coming to The Pearl in Vancouver on May 22nd & 23rd! Get Your Tickets Now!
Sleaford Mods have announced a headline 2026 US tour today in support of their forthcoming album The Demise of Planet X, out this Friday, January 16th via Rough Trade Records. Tickets for all dates will be on-sale this Friday at 10am local time here.
Additionally, this week they released a new single and video from the album, ‘Elitest G.O.A.T’ which sees them teaming up with Aldous Harding.
Stream/watch now: https://sleafordmods.ffm.to/elitest
Pulsing with chiming synths and propulsive beats, Elitest G.O.A.T is a bittersweet soundtrack to modern life as this melodic gem mixes 21st-century angst, social bravado, Daleks and light-as-a-cloud vocals from the incomparable Harding.
“When we did the bare bones of Elitest G.O.A.T, it unnerved me because it almost sounded like a small band because for the bassline we really took influence from progressive music like David Bowie’s Low.” explains Williamson. “But Andrew always comes up with something really good and tasteful, and his beat ticking away pulls it back into Sleaford Mods. As I put the vocal on, I knew it was a goer. We’ve created something a bit different, and Aldous Harding really helped with that. She is brilliant on this track, and it is one of my favourites on the album. It’s such a good song.”
Andrew Fearn and Jason Williamson’s collaboration with the New Zealand singer-songwriter came from their long-standing friendship and artistic relationship. The Sleaford Mods frontman provided guest vocals on Leathery Whip, a song from Harding’s 2022 album Warm Chris, and so they knew exactly who to ask when Elitest G.O.A.T drew Sleaford Mods onto fresh territory.
“We asked Aldous if she’d be up for doing the business for us, and luckily, she was over here recording,” adds Williamson. “So, she joined us in the studio in Bristol. That day at Invada Studios was very special. I felt like we’d really accomplished something.”
A video for Elitest G.O.A.T is available to watch now. Mixing a host of thought-provoking found footage with the band and Aldous Harding’s own imagery, it has been directed by John Minton.
Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/rhDmgcEvtpY
“The video is a feeding frenzy of images,” explains Minton who has just made his feature-length directorial debut with the thriller Game. “Vampires and sharks chomping through themes of infighting, herd mentality, privilege, fear and escapism. Get taken for a ride. Outright.”
“We wanted a video that reflected the banal energy of people posturing in the face of other people’s pain and misery,” adds Williamson. “Not everyone is guilty of this, obviously, but recently there’s been a wave of souvenir-shop activism set against the backdrop of our collectively failing societies. I was drawn to the ideas in Mark Fisher’s Exiting The Vampire Castle, particularly its critique of an imploding Left, alongside imagery of time-warped nothingness and collective conformity. John captures this perfectly: an odd slab of cold, passionless pictures.”
Recent single No Touch saw the pair recruit Sue Tompkins from the much-missed Life Without Buildings to deliver a charming, almost romantic burst of energy, while The Good Life brought The Big Special and Severance actress Gwendoline Christie – making her music debut – into the Sleaford Mods universe, conjuring up an electro psychodrama.
Megaton, previous released in aid of Ward Child last autumn, is a dancefloor shaking stomper, while the brooding Bad Santa delves back into Sleaford Mods’ hip hop roots, sticking Donald Trump firmly on the ‘naughty list’, while the full album also includes yet to be released collaborations with soul singer Liam Bailey and rapper Snowy, both from Mods’ hometown Nottingham, as Fearn and Williamson deliver their most ambitious yet searingly coherent album to date.
The Demise Of Planet X is available in a limited, glow-in-the-dark edition, boasting a luminous LP and gatefold sleeve design, which can be purchased exclusively from the band and Rough Trade Records’ online shops, while independent record shops are selling a neon green marbled version. The Demise Of Planet X is available on black vinyl, CD and cassette, the latter coming in a fetching shade of toxic green.