PENELOPE ISLES
Penelope Isles announce their long-awaited return with their new album, 3, set for release on 25 September via Bella Union. Following a period dedicated to solo projects and extensive touring, siblings Jack and Lily Wolter reunite with a record shaped by salt, sunlight, and the pull of the sea.
Three years have passed since the band's last live performance. In the meantime, Lily spent six months in Sri Lanka and Indonesia, exchanging songwriting for surfing and taking her first extended break from music in years. Jack, meanwhile, toured internationally as guitarist for CMAT during her rapid rise. Over the past year, both siblings also released critically acclaimed solo albums under the names Cubzoa and My Precious Bunny. 3 marks their return as a songwriting partnership.
To accompany the album announcement, Penelope Isles released the lead single Thinking Seat, a song about overthinking while behind the wheel. Inspired by the countless hours spent driving the band's splitter van, the track explores spiralling thoughts of worry, heartbreak, planning, remembering, forgetting, staying focused, and simply trying to find a parking space. The song also features the phrase "U.G.A.K.I" ("You Guys Are Killing It"), a motto coined by the band during difficult tours as a way of injecting humour and optimism into the realities of life as independent musicians. The single is accompanied by a self-directed music video, filmed using a £30 camcorder purchased from CEX.
3 also marks several milestones for the Brighton-based band, originally from the Isle of Man. It is their first album recorded as a true three-piece, with longtime friend Joe Taylor (Anna B Savage, Iona Zajac) joining on drums, and the first record they have ever recorded live. Jack and Lily exchange shimmering guitars and luminous vocal harmonies while Joe Taylor anchors the songs with dynamic drumming, creating intimate compositions that feel like postcards or diary pages slipped beneath someone's door.
Written during a month-long surfing trip to Lagos, Portugal, the songs on 3 carry the warmth of sandy beaches and sunburnt afternoons, combining radiant melodies with emotionally charged harmonies. A year later, the band travelled to Black Bay Studio on the Isle of Lewis, off the northwest coast of Scotland, where the album was recorded live. The result balances delicacy and intensity, capturing beauty that feels both carefully crafted and beautifully fragile.
Still fascinated by love, heartbreak, and everything that remains afterwards, Penelope Isles continue to expand their sound on 3, creating an album that is hazy, luminous, and constantly on the edge of unraveling. As Jack Wolter explains, "Penny Isles is such a big part of our personalities, so it was about time we got back to it."
Three years have passed since the band's last live performance. In the meantime, Lily spent six months in Sri Lanka and Indonesia, exchanging songwriting for surfing and taking her first extended break from music in years. Jack, meanwhile, toured internationally as guitarist for CMAT during her rapid rise. Over the past year, both siblings also released critically acclaimed solo albums under the names Cubzoa and My Precious Bunny. 3 marks their return as a songwriting partnership.
To accompany the album announcement, Penelope Isles released the lead single Thinking Seat, a song about overthinking while behind the wheel. Inspired by the countless hours spent driving the band's splitter van, the track explores spiralling thoughts of worry, heartbreak, planning, remembering, forgetting, staying focused, and simply trying to find a parking space. The song also features the phrase "U.G.A.K.I" ("You Guys Are Killing It"), a motto coined by the band during difficult tours as a way of injecting humour and optimism into the realities of life as independent musicians. The single is accompanied by a self-directed music video, filmed using a £30 camcorder purchased from CEX.
3 also marks several milestones for the Brighton-based band, originally from the Isle of Man. It is their first album recorded as a true three-piece, with longtime friend Joe Taylor (Anna B Savage, Iona Zajac) joining on drums, and the first record they have ever recorded live. Jack and Lily exchange shimmering guitars and luminous vocal harmonies while Joe Taylor anchors the songs with dynamic drumming, creating intimate compositions that feel like postcards or diary pages slipped beneath someone's door.
Written during a month-long surfing trip to Lagos, Portugal, the songs on 3 carry the warmth of sandy beaches and sunburnt afternoons, combining radiant melodies with emotionally charged harmonies. A year later, the band travelled to Black Bay Studio on the Isle of Lewis, off the northwest coast of Scotland, where the album was recorded live. The result balances delicacy and intensity, capturing beauty that feels both carefully crafted and beautifully fragile.
Still fascinated by love, heartbreak, and everything that remains afterwards, Penelope Isles continue to expand their sound on 3, creating an album that is hazy, luminous, and constantly on the edge of unraveling. As Jack Wolter explains, "Penny Isles is such a big part of our personalities, so it was about time we got back to it."