Gilla Band Announce New Album Pugnello And Share Explosive New Single 'Placeholder'

The Dublin quartet return with a new album, a frantic first single and a pair of intimate UK shows before embarking on a huge international tour.

Irish experimental heavyweights Gilla Band have announced their fourth studio album, Pugnello, arriving on 25 September via Rough Trade Records. Alongside the announcement, the Dublin quartet have unveiled the album's first single, 'Placeholder', giving fans an early glimpse into their latest chapter.

The record follows 2022's Most Normal and was developed over a four-year period between 2022 and 2026. Sessions took place across Hellfire, Yellow Door Music Studio and Sonic Studios in Dublin, with the band producing the album themselves while bassist Daniel Fox handled recording and mixing duties.

Across more than a decade together, Gilla Band have established themselves as one of the most uncompromising bands working in alternative music. Their abrasive collision of noise rock, electronics, industrial textures and fractured rhythms has made each release feel impossible to pin down, with Pugnello set to continue that evolution.

Vocalist Dara Kiely says new single 'Placeholder' explores the ways nostalgia can become a refuge from anxiety, weaving together childhood memories with references to pop culture, including Big Brother, Power Rangers and even Coldplay. He describes the song as an attempt to understand his own coping mechanisms, balancing humour with more personal reflections on mental health.

Following the release announcement, the band have also confirmed two intimate UK performances this October. They'll play an in-the-round show at London's ICA before heading to Manchester's The White Hotel for one of the venue's final concerts ahead of its planned closure. Fans who pre-order Pugnello will receive access to an exclusive pre-sale for both dates.

A much larger run of headline shows across the UK, Europe and North America will follow through late 2026 and early 2027, including dates in Paris, Berlin, Milan and a return to both London and Manchester next February.

Pugnello is released on 25 September via Rough Trade Records. Watch the video for 'Placeholder' below.