Following the recent announcement of their fourth album ABSTRACT / NATURAL, alternative four-piece LIFE share ‘Turning In’; the second track to be unveiled from the forthcoming release which arrives on 19 June via Launchpad+ in partnership with EMI North. Alongside the new single, the band have announced a new run of tour dates set for October 2026.
Arriving after the band’s bold reintroduction via previous single ‘The Dollywaggon’, ‘Turning In’ offers a gentler, more reflective side to the Hull outfit, finding vocalist Mez Sanders-Green ruminating on his experiences of fatherhood, and drawing on a fleeting but meaningful memory from a trip to the Isle Of Mull. Speaking on the track, Mez explains:
“This song is about fatherhood and parenting. The lyrics describe an adventure with my little boy on the island of Mull in Scotland. It’s about me and my lad hunkered down in a tent and waking to hear him chatting outside. He told me he was talking to a heron. To this day I don’t know if he was – whenever I see a Heron I now get goosebumps. The universal theme is about togetherness; fitting together, sharing moments, and always wanting to be there for someone you love. Sonically, we tried to make the track sound big, wide, and expansive to help tell the story of the lyrics.”
Built around a steady, almost disco-like groove, ‘Turning In’ playfully explores space and melody, pairing understated electronic textures with a wandering bassline and creative, considered instrumentation. Unfolding gradually, as it progresses the arrangement slowly opens up, culminating in a spacious, layered outro where overlapping vocals and synth lines build into a widescreen crescendo, adding greater weight to the track’s subject matter. ‘Turning in’ arrives alongside a striking new video directed by Hinterland Creative, shot on the headland above a windswept East Yorkshire coast. The film pairs the track’s lyrical storytelling with sweeping coastal imagery, allowing the landscape and climate to dance around abstract and monolithic structures.
Across the course of forthcoming album ABSTRACT / NATURAL, LIFE succeed in balancing wider themes with grounded, human stories like ‘Turning In’. Characters rooted in folklore and landscape sit alongside reflections on fatherhood, freedom and personal evolution, forming a body of work that feels both intimate and outward-looking. The album began life not in a rehearsal room, but on the pages of a poetry book frontman Mez has been writing; a collection of musings on landscape, nature, love, acceptance and letting go. Hearing melodies embedded in his words, Mez began presenting fragments to the band as “wonky lullabies”, turning hills, ridges and landmarks into characters: Hen Comb, Pavey Arc, Sergeant Man, The Grey Friar and The Dollywaggon. From there, bandmates Stewart Baxter, Lydia Palmeira and Mick Sanders shaped the music around these narratives, instinctively weaving them into vivid arrangements that collectively present a fully-realised universe.
Produced by Stewart Baxter and Oliver Varga, mixed by James Kenosha and mastered by Stephen Kerrison, ABSTRACT / NATURAL was recorded at LIFE’s own studio in Hull (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.
LIFE Live Dates
June
23 – Brighton, Resident
24 – London, Rough Trade East
25 – Liverpool, Jacaranda
26 – Leeds, Jumbo Records
July
24-26 – Deer Shed Festival, North Yorkshire
October
1 – Newcastle, The Grove
2 – Lincoln, Southside
3 – Hebden Bridge, Trades Club
4 – London, Moth Club
7 – Southampton, The Joiners
8 – Bristol, Strange Brew
9 – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
For more information on LIFE please check their facebook and instagram.