Idlewild's Roddy Woomble announces new project Almost Nothing

“My last album (2021’s Lo! Soul) was largely electronic and written and recorded in a much more isolated, separated way due to the restrictions of the pandemic. I did consider using another name at the time, making up a new persona, or band to release it but ended up putting it under my own name," Woomble says. "With Almost Nothing I knew it was something new from the start and approached it that way. Both Lo! Soul and the Everyday Sun EP (2020’s spoken word release) gave me the confidence to really try something I’d not done before – to make a truly electronic album with just my voice and lyrics connecting it to my previous work.”

“I started writing short scripts during the pandemic (Woomble is a former film student) and initially I conceived Almost Nothing as more of a short film with a soundtrack. I’ve no experience in making films really, so started developing it into a short story, a novella, but soon realised that I’m best at writing songs. In my imagination, it still is a short film and a book, but in reality, it’s a ten-track album. I liked the name as it’s neither positive or negative and quite ambiguous for a band. It can either be a curious one-off or the start of something new and significant – it’s almost something, almost nothing.”

“I’ve always collaborated with different people to make songs, so it was lovely to reconnect with Scott and also to work with Le Junk for the first time. Both Andrew and Luciano have worked with me on my last few solo records, and the later Idlewild albums, so I guess this album mixes elements of the familiar with the new – musically and lyrically," Woomble says of the recording process. "I’m a melodicist, so if there’s one thing that unites Almost Nothing with my other work, it’s the good tunes. Lyrically I’m trying to simplify it somewhat, so fewer words to get in the way of the music than usual...”

Also announced today are the first-ever Almost Nothing live shows, with the band chosen to support The Walkmen on their highly-anticipated run of UK and Ireland shows this August, including three consecutive nights at London's KOKO.