Preoccupations + 52 Hertz Whale + knitting

Preoccupations return with Ill at Ease, their fifth full-length album and first release on Born Losers.

Thirteen years into their evolution, the band embraces a bold new sonic direction—blending post-punk roots with echoes of britpop, electronica, and ’80s/’90s alt-rock. Recorded between Montréal and Brooklyn, the album explores themes of anxiety, disillusionment, and existential weight, grounded in the band’s signature dark lyricism. Ill at Ease is a visceral, reflective work—shaped by years of creative friction, relentless touring, and an unflinching will to keep creating through uncertainty.

The Bratislava band 52 Hertz Whale, whose music is angry, wild, and melancholic, overflowing with energy and impatience, has played dozens of concerts at home and abroad, sharing the stage with bands such as Algiers, The Underground Youth, and Lebanon Hanover, and has performed at festivals such as Pohoda, Colours of Ostrava, Grape, Eurosonic, and Liverpool Sound City. After two years, they will play one concert with their full lineup, including Patrik Nagy.

What began as a pandemic project in hibernation is now a full-fledged Montreal indie rock band called knitting. Their guitar-driven, lyrically introspective indie rock carries the nostalgia of the 90s (Pavement, Pixies, Sonic Youth) and tells stories of growing up and searching for identity in Montreal. Their debut album Some Kind of Heaven (Mint Records, 2024) spent five weeks at No. 1 on Canadian student radio stations, and the band has been featured in media outlets such as Pitchfork, The FADER, and Stereogum. Knitting has already shared the stage with Cherry Glazerr and Ovlov and performed at festivals across North America.