Chamber folk band My New Band Believe‘s 2026 album exists as a synthesis of Art Rock sensibilities with a Progressive Folk presentation. Vibrant strings create lush instrumentation that paints a picture of an optimistic world amidst turbulent winds of change. Flowery imagery is littered throughout the songwriting on the album, speaking of deep romance and wondrous landscapes. Love, hopes and dreams, as well as the struggles that come with pursuing each venture are the core themes of the album, with sonic explorations into baroque styles, chamber-pop influences and British folk to paint various pastiches on what it means to follow your heart.
In this new project, critically lauded avant-progressive rock band Black Midi‘s bassist Cameron Picton follows in the footsteps of his fellow bandmate, Geordie Greep in the pursuit of sonic expansion outside of the band’s walls. My New Band Believe sees Cameron undertake a new frontier into folk expression, his versatility as a musician shining through in the various detailed baroque instrumentations showcased throughout the album.
The album opens with the sea shanty-like Target Practice showcasing a tinge of the coming experience. The baroque-style vocals are littered throughout the track, complimented by rustic instrumentation from the piano and strings. It ends abruptly, ushering in chaotic guitars from the following track, In the Blink of an Eye. This chaotic energy is followed by the expansive Heart of Darkness, expanding upon the musical ideas presented, implementing a unique song structure, with rhythmic guitars driving through the majority of the track. It is transformed into an ominous texture, employing strings and odd sounds alongside a horror-esque guitar melody to invoke fear and darkness. This is then followed up by the weary but optimistic pianos that litter the album’s most honest point, Love Story. A celebration of medieval love song tropes, the song describes a lush cottage life with a lover, picking flowers and cooking together.
The second half of the album explores self-identity, and dives into various new elements, such as jazzy brass horns and dark sonic textures. This half opens with the jazz-tinged, hopeful Pearls, with dramatic string instrumentation paints emotional uncertainty, with the frantic drums and off-kilter jazz of horns filling in the tail end of the song. The introspective Opposite Teacher uses this framework set by the previous songs to describe the breaking of generational trauma, with some habits and patterns present within families. The 8-minute penultimate Actress serves as an emotional and sonic climax to the album, going into the weary ending track One Night, which uses dissonant horns and strings to give a somber conclusion to the album, showing how moments of intimacy and stability can feel brief, closing the album on an unsettling note, congruent with the unconventional nature of the album’s instrumental direction.
A key highlight from the album for me is the song Actress. The 8-minute journey begins with slow, melodic acoustic guitar. Picton’s vocals enter with soft-spoken song, describing an actress analysing her character. Throughout the song, the vocals continue to describe the trials and tribulations of the aforementioned actress amidst increasingly lush and chaotic instrumentations. Violins and energy increase as the actress rises in fame, describing her akin to an uncontrollable flame. Bright and passionate, but fragile and ephemeral, like the dichotomy of chasing towards lofty goals while dealing with the struggles that come with fame. Actress is the culmination of the sonic experimentation and themes present throughout the album, and possibly the album’s peak.
My New Band Believe’s self-titled debut has built a solid foundation the band could stand on, and both critics and audiences have praised this album’s merits. NME’s Patrick Clake praising the album, describing it as “ambitious as it is ambiguous”, praising Picton’s instrumentation and performances throughout the project. AOTY user HomeSession3 rates the album an 80, describing it as an “exploration of the band’s soul with a beating heart that illuminates the darkness”. To me, My New Band Believe’s debut signals a shift in contemporary music, with the heavy focus on musicianship, narrative and texture making a triumphant return in the popular music zeitgeist.
Shoujie Wang 
Yinan Zhou 
SUN Yinchen