Declan Welsh & the Decadent West

Descripción

**DHP Presents** **Declan Welsh & the Decadent West** **With Special Guests: Iona Luke** At Rough Trade Bristol Monday 5th October 2026 **Declan Welsh** and the Decadent West are back. After time away writing their third record, the Glasgow band return this autumn with 25+ dates across the UK and Europe, from Saint Luke's in their hometown to Berlin's Badehaus, London's The Grace to Madrid's Sala Sol, in support of new album Explicit Agitation, out September 2026. The record is their most ambitious yet: a furious, clear-eyed document of the present moment that refuses to look away. From deindustrialised towns hollowed out by decades of neglect, to the death toll in Gaza counted out in verse, to a withering monologue delivered from inside the mind of a ruling-class villain. But Explicit Agitation is also their most complete record: alongside the politics sits love, loneliness, lost faith, and a searching self-awareness about what protest art is actually for. Recorded with Chris Marshall at Castle of Doom Studios, who produced their debut, the album's title signals intent. The music delivers on it. **Iona Luke** is an artist of contrasts, one who possesses the broad appeal and credibility of Florence + The Machine but with the emotional intensity of PJ Harvey and a flair for the drama that echoes Tori Amos. Like her hero, Patti Smith, she is eager for her music to make a fervent personal connection, yet her lyrics often explore the road less travelled, with her poetic, existential narratives enshrouded in mystique and metaphor. She is a rare proposition who writes the kind of songs that can fire her to the upper echelons of the album charts, yet with a personal-meets-oblique quality that will inspire cult-like devotion. The 23 year old from London has lived what should be two parallel lives. In one, an English Literature graduate from Cambridge University, where she worked on a dissertation which explored how verse and the visceral power of music create an immersive physicality in what she calls ‘Punk Rock Poetry’ - all the while carrying a copy of Virginia Woolf’s ‘The Room of One’s Own’ like a comfort blanket. On the other, she’s a songwriter who has signed a publishing deal with B Unique, who might be found deep in sessions, playing gigs, and exploring the music scenes in any city she can find her way to.