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Characteristic: Bleach Lab Unleash Fireplace & Fury on ‘Near the Flame,’ a Devastating Dream Pop Reverie


Bleach Lab naked their hearts on the gritty, grungy ‘Near the Flame,’ an achingly expressive EP that burns cold and warm as they blur the road between love and ache, chasing launch by means of heavier textures and unflinching confession. In dialog with Atwood Journal, the South London dream pop band mirror on their artistic rebirth, the tales behind every music, and why this mission appears like their strongest reintroduction but.
Stream: “Drown” – Bleach Lab


You harm your self to really feel alive, holding up the entire weight of the sky.

* * *

Bleach Lab’s new EP isn’t afraid to plunge headfirst into the fireplace.

Near the Flame is darkish and dramatic in essentially the most lovely manner – a young tempest aching with uncooked depth, visceral honesty, and breathtaking vulnerability. From the crushing weight of “Drown” to the delicate give up of “If I Might Be Something,” the band’s 5 new songs burn with a ardour that scorches and heals on the identical time.

It’s Bleach Lab at their most uncompromising: Stressed, confessional, and unflinchingly human. Near the Flame is a cathartic and all-consuming eruption of affection, loss, and longing – a report that proves Bleach Lab are unafraid to carry their arms to the fireplace, even when it hurts.

Near the Flame – Bleach Lab
You look so fairly if you cry
Makes them wanna break your coronary heart
To observe you die inside
You’ve been working all of your life
Late night time talks and smoking in
The shadow of the night time
He stated he desires you
But it surely’s an excessive amount of
He stated he loves you
But it surely’s not sufficient
You harm your self to really feel alive
Holding up the entire weight of the sky
While you need one thing you
Let it rule your life
Holding onto issues that don’t really feel proper
– “Drown,” Bleach Lab

Launched July 18, 2025 through Nettwerk Music Group, Near the Flame arrives as Bleach Lab’s first mission since their breathtaking debut album Misplaced in a Rush of Vacancy, which Atwood Journal hailed as “an immersive assortment of internal reckonings and soul-stirring reflections on what it means to be alive.” It’s additionally their first solely self-produced physique of labor, made alongside new guitarist Louis Takooree, who joined the band in 2024 – rounding out the present lineup of vocalist Jenna Kyle, bassist Josh Longman, drummer Kieran Weston, and Takooree on guitar.

A longtime Atwood Journal artist-to-watch and six-time Editor’s Choose, Bleach Lab have been praised for his or her “soul-stirring lyrics stuffed with depth, unfiltered emotion, and substance” and for delivering “an achingly heat and wistful dream pop expertise” that aches with fragility and catharsis in equal measure. Since forming in late 2018, the South London quartet have constructed a popularity as one of many UK’s most fun indie acts, mixing shoegaze, dream pop, and uncooked various rock right into a sound that feels each nostalgic and new. From the grief-stricken reflections of their debut EP A Calm Sense of Surrounding, to the heartache and craving of Nothing Feels Actual EP, to the looking out and belonging of If You Solely Really feel It As soon as EP and the radiant, resounding internal reckoning of 2023’s debut album Misplaced in a Rush of Vacancy, their music has at all times been outlined by emotional honesty, existential questioning, and a willingness to reveal their most weak selves.

Misplaced in a Rush of Vacancy: Inside Bleach Lab’s Breathtaking, Soul-Stirring, & Shiver-Inducing Debut Album

:: FEATURE ::

Bleach Lab proceed that life-long journey on their newest EP: The place Misplaced in a Rush of Vacancy distilled 4 years of grief, reckoning, and renewal right into a cathartic full-length effort, Near the Flame finds them leaning into heavier textures and darker themes with grungier edge with out shedding the dreamlike high quality that has outlined their sound from the very starting. Written by means of trial and error, and formed in equal elements by intuition and exploration, these 5 tracks mirror a gaggle each increasing their sonic horizons and reasserting the intimacy, vulnerability, and visceral emotion which have at all times made their music so particular.

“We’d be mendacity if we stated that the observe up report wasn’t somewhat daunting,” Jenna Kyle tells Atwood Journal. “I believe it was maybe somewhat laborious to get going at first, however after a couple of classes with Louis we already had ‘In Your Arms’ and ‘Shut To The Flame,’ so it began to really feel very pure fairly shortly. I believe the important thing was to only let that course of play out, and work out the form of music we needed to jot down. We actually gave ourselves time to discover the brand new dynamic of getting Louis within the band (who additionally produced the report alongside Kieran) so it was actually vital to permit ourselves that point.”

Slightly than go in with a hard and fast imaginative and prescient, Seaside Lab allowed the songs to take form organically. “The one objective was to jot down music that all of us resonated with, because it’s at all times been,” Kyle says. “I believe the objective was to only roll with no matter was coming naturally till one thing cohesive began to type. The imaginative and prescient was continually shifting to be trustworthy – we wrote some softer songs, shimmering ‘80s tracks and barely folkier tracks which didn’t make the reduce, all earlier than we began to mould the EP as it’s now. I believe what we ended up took place by means of numerous trial and error and exploration.”

Bleach Lab © Alex Esden
Bleach Lab © Alex Esden

The result’s one in every of Bleach Lab’s most resonant efforts but. Near the Flame is about being caught in relationships the place you’re continually pulled between love and ache – “whether or not it’s desirous to be every little thing to somebody, holding onto somebody that’s slipping away, or battling guilt and nervousness that make it laborious to maneuver ahead,” the band shares.

“It captures the messy actuality of attempting to carry onto love, while coping with self-doubt, remorse and the concern of shedding your self within the course of. Preventing for connection however feeling the burden of all of it. It’s a uncooked journey by means of relationships that devour you, from the joys of a whirlwind romance to the heaviness of carrying remorse and nervousness, displaying how love can each carry you up and drag you down on the identical time.”

In some ways, Near the Flame is a reintroduction – a press release of who Bleach Lab are in 2025. The band describe themselves as being in an awesome artistic place, with new guitarist Louis Takooree’s presence and proximity making writing and demoing simpler than ever, and with extra time spent on these songs than any of their earlier releases. It’s a report that carries the recent influences Takooree has introduced into the fold whereas staying true to every little thing that has outlined Bleach Lab’s artistry from the beginning – “the right reintroduction,” as Jenna Kyle places it.

Bleach Lab © Alex Esden
Bleach Lab © Alex Esden

The title is taken from the monitor on the EP’s core. “‘Near the flame, keep heat’ is a metaphor with a number of meanings – one is that so long as you keep close to no matter is impacting you, negatively or in any other case, you’re going to stay in that state till you take away your self from the state of affairs,” Kyle says. “It felt like an awesome metaphor for the form of relationships we had been exploring all through the EP, so it grew to become the title monitor. While the flame could make you are feeling heat, it may possibly additionally hurt you in case you get too shut.”

The title monitor sits on the coronary heart of this EP, and it’s some of the highly effective statements Bleach Lab have ever made. “‘Shut To The Flame’ is about being in an all-consuming relationship, desirous to be completely every little thing to somebody and the very purpose they exist,” the band share. “Maybe a whirlwind romance primarily based on lust over love. The refrain represents driving quick down a street at night time, with streetlights passing overhead. Suggesting that they is perhaps escaping the world collectively.” Pressure and launch outline the music’s each second – aching in its verses, exhaling in its hovering refrain – till the listener feels simply as consumed because the narrator.

Whisper softly to me
Wanna be the air you breathe
Wanna be every little thing
Write my identify in your pores and skin
Like a wave I’ll pull you in
Lights passing
You by my aspect
Life’s passing
You retain me alive


The reintroduction begins with “Drown,” a music that hits with uncooked urgency and unrelenting power. It’s Bleach Lab at their heaviest, channeling heartbreak right into a whirlwind of grungy guitars and pounding drums. “It’s about being caught in a poisonous cycle with somebody who isn’t any good for you. You at all times say it’s the final time you’ll let it occur, however one way or the other you retain discovering your self again at sq. one. You retain going again to them though deep down, it’s not proper,” the band clarify. That pressure is carved into Jenna Kyle’s voice as she cries, “You harm your self to really feel alive, holding up the entire weight of the sky.” Her phrases ache with self-destruction, whereas the music swells like a storm, refusing to let go. From there, the band pull inward with “Really feel One thing,” a quietly devastating music about dependency and the exhaustion of carrying another person’s sins. Kyle sings of sleepless nights and damaged guarantees, her voice trembling with each fragility and fury. It’s one of many EP’s most haunting moments, a reminder of how simply love can corrode when imbalance takes root.

The ache continues with “In Your Arms,” maybe the EP’s most quintessential Bleach Lab ballad – tender and expansive, aching with a determined want to carry on to one thing that’s already slipping away. Recorded alongside a windswept video at Seven Sisters, it captures the dizzying collision of devotion and heartbreak, the euphoria of reminiscence tempered by the dread of loss. It’s additionally one of many band’s proudest moments: “I believe we’re all huge followers of ‘In Your Arms.’ That’s the one all of us maintain coming again to – I believe when it comes to the songwriting and manufacturing it truly is one in every of our greatest but,” Kyle grins.

The EP’s closing monitor, “If I Might Be Something,” brings every little thing to its darkest level, wrestling brazenly with guilt, nervousness, and intrusive ideas. “If I might be something, I’d be useless,” Kyle sings, her phrases slicing straight to the bone. It’s an unflinching have a look at how remorse can weigh an individual down, but additionally an act of catharsis – the form of music that gives launch by naming the ache out loud. “The heavier shoegaze refrain is one thing we’ve needed to do for some time, so there’s one thing fairly cathartic about that,” Kyle provides. “We’re very excited to play that one stay!” Collectively, these tracks type a journey that’s as consuming as its title suggests, each an intimate exhale of sorrow, longing, and survival.

I’d run to you
In a burning room
First time that we met
You informed me
I used to be made only for you
Bear in mind after we kissed that night time
I might’ve died inside
And are available proper again to life
In your eyes
I don’t wanna neglect
However I can see that it’s fading in
Your thoughts


Bleach Lab © Alex Esden
Bleach Lab © Alex Esden

For Kyle, who struggled with bouts of author’s block all through the EP’s creation course of, these lyrics all maintain particular that means – some greater than others. “When it began to circulate, it was an actual aid,” she admits. “I like to create a visceral picture in my writing, so one in every of my favourites is ‘Sitting by your window, morning lights simply coming by means of’ in ‘Drown.’ I really feel prefer it actually units a specific scene. I additionally love the darkness and literality of ‘carry guilt like a series on my neck’ in ‘If I Might Be Something.’”

Every music on Near the Flame stands as its personal world – a journey value taking, stuffed with pressure, tenderness, and catharsis. Collectively, they type a physique of labor that’s as consuming as it’s cathartic, with each monitor revealing one other layer of Bleach Lab’s honesty and artistry. It’s an EP that doesn’t simply burn; it glows, sparkles, and smolders in ways in which linger lengthy after the ultimate notes fade.

Characteristic: Bleach Lab Unleash Fireplace & Fury on ‘Near the Flame,’ a Devastating Dream Pop Reverie
Bleach Lab © Alex Esden

Within the context of their discography, Near the Flame appears like each a continuation and a rebirth. All through their profession, Bleach Lab have at all times made music that cuts to the core of what it means to be human. Their newest work takes all of that hard-earned emotional gravity and pushes it additional – darker, louder, heavier – with out shedding the dreamlike high quality that has outlined them because the very starting. Near the Flame is greater than a return; it’s a reintroduction, and a strong reminder of why this band proceed to be some of the very important voices in indie music as we speak.

Replay it time and again in my head
Wishing I might return
To the beginning, reset
Carry guilt like a series on my neck
If I might be something
I’d be useless
Eyes are closing coronary heart charges
Slowing down
My physique turns into frozen
Wishing I might return now…
– “If I Might Be Something,” Bleach Lab

It’s no marvel the band themselves describe this report as grungy, dreamy, and introspective – three phrases that seize each the place Bleach Lab have been and the place they’re headed. That mixture is uncommon, and it’s what makes this EP really feel so particular: A uncooked but ethereal reckoning, grounded within the shadows however at all times reaching for the sunshine.

Expertise the complete report through our beneath stream, and peek inside Bleach Lab’s Near the Flame EP with Atwood Journal as they take us track-by-track by means of the music and lyrics of their newest launch!

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:: stream/buy Near the Flame right here ::
:: join with Bleach Lab right here ::

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‘Near the Flame’ – Bleach Lab

:: Inside Near the Flame ::

Close To The Flame - Bleach Lab

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DROWN

“Drown” was our first launch of the EP again in November. It’s about being caught in a poisonous cycle with somebody who isn’t any good for you. You retain going again to them though deep down, it’s not proper.

FEEL SOMETHING

“Really feel One thing” got here collectively most likely the quickest of all of the tracks on the EP. Louis walked into the room and simply performed the primary ting that got here to him over this bass concept we had – that’s just about the half that ended up on the ultimate report!

IN YOUR ARMS

This has been one in every of our absolute favourites to play stay just lately, it’s a real Bleach Lab ballad in all one of the best methods. The music video can be unbelievable – It was filmed down at Seven Sisters with one in every of our favorite administrators Polocho. Such a stupendous location, he’s captured the essence of it so nicely. It’s about being head-over-heels in love with somebody who’s by the way falling out of affection with you, and also you’re doing every little thing you possibly can to make them keep.

CLOSE TO THE FLAME

That is one other monitor that instrumentally was written fairly some time in the past. It sat untouched for a short while however was one thing we needed to come back again to, and felt it sat sonically amongst the opposite tracks on the EP.  ‘Near the flame’ additionally felt like an awesome metaphor for the form of relationships we had been exploring all through the EP, so it grew to become the title monitor. A flame can maintain you heat, however also can burn in case you get too shut, which we felt summarised the sentiments we had been exploring on this report.

IF I COULD BE ANYTHING

This one took place throughout a session with me, Josh and Jenna. It was one of many extra emotionally difficult songs on the EP to jot down lyrically. It touches on loads of actually private emotions about remorse, self-love (or lack of!) and being tied down by adverse ideas. It was an extremely self-reflective music to jot down although, so i’m grateful for it. Hopefully you prefer it!

— —

:: stream/buy Near the Flame right here ::
:: join with Bleach Lab right here ::

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— — — —

Close To The Flame - Bleach Lab

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? © Alex Esden

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