SBTKRT announces first album in 7 years, ‘The Rat Road,’ shares song ft. Teezo Touchdown

SBTRKT has announced his first new album in seven years, The Rat Road, due May 5 (pre-order). The album follows a string of new singles, and though the tracklist hasn't been revealed yet, SBTRKT confirms that the album features recent single "FORWARD" ft. LEILAH. It also features the just-released "Waiting" ft. Teezo Touchdown. SBTRKT says:

This album has been my most sonically ambitious record to create, following my own musical path, which isn’t based on others’ perceptions of what SBTRKT should be.

"The Rat Road" is a play on the concept of "the rat race." It’s partly based on my own challenging experiences within the music industry and life generally, though I realized the idea is not isolated from a much wider feeling of exhaustion—definitely true here in the UK with little sense of respite from ever increasing costs, decreasing opportunity, and a bold divide and conquer mentality. There is a juxtaposition in the record between determination and hopelessness.

I’m always listening to and looking out for new music, and I came across a song of Teezo's, "I'm just a fan," on October 21. By serendipity, he was heading to London the next week, so we connected in person. In some ways—although personal to Teezo too—it perfectly summed up everything I had been going through. It therefore felt like the most obvious song to then lead into my album with. Musically, it's an expansion on my previous records, with a purposefully wider and more layered sound. All instruments on this song and the album were played, recorded, produced, and mixed by me.

Check out the new song below. SBTRKT also has one upcoming performance at the moment: Field Day Festival in London.