The Monochrome Set announce new album ‘Lotus Bridge,’ share title track

UK proto-sophistipop post-punk OGs The Monochrome Set are back with their 17th album, Lotus Bridge, that will be out March 13 via Tapete. Frontman Bid co-produced the album with engineer John Clayton and features original Set bassist Andy Warren alongside Stephen Gilchrist on drums and Athen Ayren on keyboards.

The album’s themes were born out of a dream Bid had when the band were talking about making a new album. “It seemed to me, as I wrote these lyrics, that this whole story was a metaphor for a crumbling civilization, and whether or not I would leave it behind if I were given the opportunity,” Bid says. “The otherside of the bridge represents what seems to be an unknown future that I’m being asked to accept without explanation, and the other songs represent a journey back through the past and are a sometimes allegorical re-evaluation of it. I think that I managed to keep to a close narrative thread in the lyrics, and deliberately kept the underlying musical structures in a similar tempo and key. Even old poetry is timeless, if it is about personal experiences.”

The first single is Lotus Bridge‘s title track which is a classic sounding Monochrome Set song, full of jangly guitars, Morricone-esque touches, and an overall air of élan. Listen below.

The Monochrome Set will also be on tour in the UK this year and all dates are below.

Lotus Bridge:
A1 Lotus Bridge
A2 Diaphanous
A3 The Abominations Of Hubert
A4 Jenny Greenlocks
A5 Arcadia

B1 Athanatoi
B2 Leander
B3 Map Of The Night Sky
B4 Polaris Aa
B5 Our Sweet Souls

The Monochrome Set – 2026 Tour Dates
06/03/26 – Lost Weekend 40th Anniv. @ The Deaf Institute, Manchester, UK
07/03/26 – Lost Weekend 40th Anniv. @ Mono, Glasgow, UK
17/04/26 – The Castle and Falcon, Birmingham, UK
18/04/26 – The Welly, Hull, UK
19/04/26 – Think Tank, Newcastle, UK
16/05/26 – The Lexington, London, UK
19/06/26 – Colchester Arts Centre, Colchester, UK
20/06/26 – Ramsgate Music Hall, Ramsgate, UK
03/07/26 – The Vine Tree, Frome, UK
04/07/26 – Kola, Portsmouth, UK
02/10/26 – The Continental, Preston, UK
03/10/26 – The International, Leicester , UK
13/11/26 – The Louisiana, Bristol, UK
14/11/26 – The Bunkhouse, Swansea, UK