Six years, three EPs, a dozen singles, one viral sleeper hit — and now, at last, a debut album. World News released In Purgatory last Friday on their own Pie & Mash Records, and “Vinegar Swimming Pool,” the final pre-release single, is the track that proves the London quartet’s range: heavier, darker, and more distorted than the shimmering jangle-pop they’re known for.

The song opens on a heavier riff than usual, a bass line that won’t budge, drums pushing hard underneath — then swings back into a dreamy vocal that keeps dissolving into a long rolled “prrrr,” half noise, half hook. There’s even a radio voice reading out the song title halfway through, which shouldn’t work and does. Stay for the final minute: a burst of clean jangle guitar, one more “prrrr,” and an outro that falls apart in the best way. Under The Radar named it one of the 10 best songs of its week; KEXP gave the album a glowing 10/19 review; the band describes it as “a bit of a curveball… a unicorn with the other tunes.”

The backstory is worth the Friday real estate. Brothers Alex and Rory Evans started as Tinman in Brighton’s grassroots scene — until gig-goers arrived expecting an Austrian DJ of the same name. A chance meeting with drummer Malte Henning at a Pizza Express, rhythm guitarist Jack Tollman joining later, and the quartet was set. Their 2023 single “The Tinman” broke out without any campaign — global top-10 viral charts, millions of streams — and Stereogum named them one of the 40 Best New Artists of 2024 while The FADER put them on its 13 Artists list for 2025.

In Purgatory was recorded at RAK Studios with Tommy Bosustow (mary in the junkyard, Porridge Radio), and frontman Alex Evans — who does the bulk of the songwriting, producing, recording, mastering, and even vinyl cutting — describes the record plainly: death, depression, breakups, “how life can sometimes feel like you’re swimming in a pool of vinegar,” but with a comedic approach and “the notion that there is always hope.” That’s the World News formula — melodic melancholy with a wink — and 11 songs of it, some dating back to 2020, finally have a permanent home.

They’re on the road right now (Manchester Tuesday, Bristol, Brighton Mutations today, Scala November 3rd), and they just announced their first US tour for spring 2027 — Austin, LA, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, New York. For a site that champions the slow build over the hype cycle, World News is the week’s textbook case.

RATING: 4.5/5

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