Following their debut singles in June 2022, bedbugz once again teamed up with Tonetic Records to release their debut album, a melting pot of genre exploration in a bedding of indie riffs and sparkly synths.

Hailing from Canterbury, vocalist Robyn, guitarist Moff and drummer Elliott formed themselves as a project out of sporadic necessity, after happening upon Tonetic’s social media outreach. After releasing their first singles in June, bedbugz have spent the summer in the Tonetic studio crafting their first full length project. 

At its core All Hail the Goblin King is a love letter to recent D.I.Y indie/noise rock and emo, influenced by outfits like Weatherday and Car Seat Headrest, with a fondness for twinkly synthesisers in the mix. However, exploring its secrets will reveal pockets of shoegaze, breakbeats, experimental electronics and even Lounge Jazz. Underpinning the project is a deep sense of fantasy lore, alluded to amongst their trademark angst ridden vocals. Whisperings of war, dystopian worm-based mind control and a mysterious monarch. 

“bedbugz pull from the ethereal fuzz of My Bloody Valentine, the sweet, off-kilter pop of Mac DeMarco and the expressive, lo-fi noise of Have A Nice Life.”

“We’re excited for people to hear our new sound compared to the old stuff. It was nice to have a more experimental approach to the sound this time.”  - Robyn

Their lead single ‘If I Cried we’d Both Drown’ releasing on the 12th, has the riffy, gloominess of Sunny Day Real Estate or Duster, while Robyn’s vocals evoke finding comfort with someone while life storms outside. The culmination of which is personified in the tracks' last 30 seconds, sporting worming digital noise and off discordant strummings. 

All Hail the Goblin King brings together a sporadic set of tracks that demonstrate the versatility of bedbugz’ songwriting, merging with their tendency for genre exploration. From this we get a project that feels fresh and playful, you can feel how the band have journeyed through their unique creative process while listening to the project. The final track ‘Goodbye’, the last track recorded in the summer, holds the emotional weight of that process coming to an end in a way that's hard to describe. 

 “We’re a shoegaze-y indie pop band, but recently we’ve been experimenting with other genres - like electronic, break core, jungle, that sort of thing.”

Working with Tonetic for the bedbugz album was really great, in the studio especially. It was great to be able to spend so much of my summer there, even just making the tshirts was fun, and it's an experience I'll never forget. - Elliott