[Cover photo credit to Declan Haughian]

Penelope Isles has announced their return with new album 3 due out September 25, 3036, via Bella Union. After a brief disappearance into solo records and touring, Wolter siblings Jack and Lily resurface.

In the meantime, Lily spent six months in Sri Lanka and Indonesia, surfing and stepping back from music for the first time in years. Meanwhile, Jack went out on the road as guitarist for CMAT. Both Jack and Lily released solo albums over the past year, as Cubzoa and My Precious Bunny respectively.

Along with the announcement of the album, Penelope Isles have shared the album’s first single “Thinking Seat”, a track “about overthinking whilst in the driving seat.” Written upon reflection of the thousands of hours spent behind the wheel in the Wolter sibling’s van, the track is “a spiralling sequence of worry, heartache, planning, remembering, forgetting, holding it together, staying on track and trying to find a goddamn parking space.”

“Thinking Seat”is accompanied by a self-directed  video in which the siblings once again embrace the task of creating music video on a shoestring budget with a thirty-pound camcorder from CEX. 

3 is a record of firsts for the Brighton-based band who originally hail from the Isle Of Man. The first as a true three-piece, with close friend Joe Taylor (Anna B Savage, Iona Zajac) joining on drums, and the first they’ve ever recorded live.

Written on a monthlong surf trip to Lagos, Portugal, the songs on 3 have a coastal feel. A year later, the band flew to the Isle of Lewis off Scotland’s northwest coast to record the album live at Black Bay Studio.

Jack says:

Penny Isles is such a big part of our personalities. So it was about time we got back to it.

Additionally, Penelope Isles have announced UK & EU headline shows and festival appearances in October and November. All dates are listed here.