Spike is the Synth-Pop project of Hannah McLoughlin, a London, UK-based film composer and experimental musician, affiliated with Cafe OTO, whose influences permeated the intricacy and invention of Spike’s self-production.
The British artist teases the forthcoming 9-track eponymous debut album, “Spike,” scheduled for release on July 31, 2026, via independent label Gob Nation, with a 16 mm video by filmmaker Matilda Butler for the first excerpt, “Disappear.”
Spike’s full-length builds on a tradition of idiosyncratic British synth-pop, bringing to mind the cold yet intimate work of Rose McDowell, Chris & Cosey and Fad Gadget.
“Disappear” shimmers and chimes with swirling 80s mirror-ball glitzy vibrancy on the relentless pumping pulse of groove-driving rhythms and bubbling basslines, laced with icy glowing synth wanders around soulful, anthemic female vocals, mixing gloom and elation, before a cool crystalline finale of roof-shattering celestial skies.
The George Tavern, E1 0LA // Saturday 5th September 2026 // Tickets on DICE //
The paired 16mm visuals by Matilda Butler, shot around London, showcase Hannah McLoughlin in dueling black-and-white outfits against an array of symbolic backdrops to sync with the disappearance idea of the lyrics. A girl in a feminine white dress dances gracefully with her shadow on a dark theatre stage before taking a ride on the underground tube in an edgy leather trench coat. Then, after a nighttime boat excursion over navy blue reflective waters, she transcends into the heavenly clouds with the triumphant coda of the soundtrack.
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spike by @jamesaburgess
