London band Talk Show — not to be confused with the late-'90s Stone Temple Pilots offshoot — started off a few years back with a decidedly '80s goth influence, but have gotten grittier and dancier since. They lean into that with new single "Underworld," which is the first taste of a new EP and was produced by Hot Chip's Joe Goddard and Al Doyle. There's still a dark edge to everything, but it's a banger that would sound good back to back with The Gossip's "Standing at the Edge of Control."

It's not not named "Underworld" for nothing, and singer-guitarist Harrison Swann says the song is "our own 'Born Slippy'." He adds, "Finding a groove and locking into it collectively really shaped the way we approached the other tracks. Rhythm first. Vocals and guitars second. Stemming from the thumping techno drum beat and lots of noisy rhythms, this track’s a high energy intro to the new EP and a statement of intent."

As for working with Joe and Al, Harrison says it "was a dream and really helped to achieve the sounds and ideas we had in our heads, that we were probably pretty bad at articulating. For us it was fundamentally about stretching the Talk Show sound and seeing where we could go. I think their 'anything goes' approach certainly helped our confidence grow in terms of experimenting with sounds, arrangements and mixes, not once would they say that trying anything was a bad idea, or that it might not work, it was a case of going for, seeing what happened when that particular instrument or thing was in our hands, and seeing if we could make something work for that track, and in most cases it did! Don’t get me wrong it’s still gonna sound like us, we’ve not sacked off guitars and cracked out the glockenspiels. It just sounds like a better version of us. We worked harder than we ever have done before and that’s made a big difference.”

"Underworld" is the lead track off Talk Show's forthcoming Touch The Ground EP, which was produced by Goddard and Doyle, and will be out in early 2022. You can watch the lyric video below.

Talk Show are also on tour in the UK and Europe this fall. Those dates are listed below.

TALK SHOW – 2021 TOUR DATES
Sept 18 – Wide Eyed, Leicester, UK
Sept 25 – Reeperbahn, Hamburg, DE
Sept 29 – Louisiana, Bristol, UK
Sept 30 – Green Door Store, Brighton, UK
Oct 01 – Lafayette, London, UK
Oct 04 – Bodega, Nottingham, UK
Oct 05 – Headrow House, Leeds, UK
Oct 06 – Nice and Sleazy, Glasgow, UK
Oct 07 – Underground, Newcastle, UK
Oct 09 – Phase One, Liverpool, UK
Oct 11 – Yes, Manchester, UK
Oct 12 – Heartbreakers, Southampton, UK
Oct 16 – Wild Paths, Norwich, UK
Oct 23 – Hit The North, Newcastle, UK
Oct 30 – London Calling, Amsterdam, NL
Nov 16 – Pitchfork Avant Garde, Paris, FR
Nov 23 – O2 Academy, Bristol, UK (supporting Sports Team)
Dec 11 – Sonic Wave Festival, Birmingham, UK