By Azzam Bilal 
HangupsMusic.com – KALAMAZOO, Mich., Angus Andrew, the creative engine behind the long-running experimental project Liars, has officially broken a five-year silence with the announcement of a new studio album. Titled A Ban on Plastic Bag Bans, the record is scheduled for release on March 5, 2027, through the band’s long-term label partner, Mute. The announcement marks a significant new chapter for Andrew, whose career has been defined by a restless, nomadic spirit that frequently sees him uprooting his life and his sound to find inspiration in the most unlikely of geographic and psychological landscapes. This latest venture finds him trading the rugged isolation of the Australian wilderness—which informed much of his previous work—for the complex industrial and social tapestry of Kalamazoo, Michigan.
The upcoming album’s title is not merely a piece of abstract wordplay but a direct reference to a specific piece of legislation within the Michigan state legal code. It serves as a stark introduction to the record’s central themes: the friction between human intent, corporate interests, and the slow-moving gears of bureaucracy. To accompany the news, Liars has shared the lead single, "Ice Pick, Kalamazoo," a track that immediately re-establishes the project’s signature blend of rhythmic tension and atmospheric dread. The single is accompanied by a visually striking music video shot entirely on a 3D camera. The footage was captured by Andrew himself during a "No Kings" rally in Kalamazoo, grounding the song’s avant-garde leanings in a gritty, documentary-style reality that mirrors the album’s preoccupation with the intersection of the personal and the political.
The move to Kalamazoo was intended to be a domestic transition for Andrew, his wife, and their daughter, yet it quickly evolved into a period of environmental and existential crisis. Shortly after settling into the Michigan city, the family found themselves at the center of a localized environmental disaster. A nearby packaging factory was found to be the source of a toxic air crisis, casting a literal and metaphorical pall over Andrew’s new home. This experience became the primary catalyst for the new material. In statements accompanying the announcement, Andrew noted that the pollution was not confined to the atmosphere; it seeped into his creative process and his mental state. He describes a sensation where the environment and the mind become inextricably linked, each reflecting the degradation of the other.
However, A Ban on Plastic Bag Bans is not a simple protest record or a straightforward environmentalist manifesto. Andrew has clarified that the album is more concerned with the nuances of perception than with the mechanics of modern pollution. He explores the way certain elements of our existence—whether they be physical pollutants, political ideologies, or personal habits—become so ingrained in the fabric of daily life that they eventually become invisible. The record seeks to peel back these layers of normalcy, forcing the listener to confront the "constants" that they have stopped noticing. This philosophical approach to songwriting has been a hallmark of Liars since the project’s inception in the early 2000s, though it has rarely felt as urgent or as geographically specific as it does here.
The five-year gap since 2021’s The Apple Drop has been far from a period of dormancy for Andrew. Since the release of that critically acclaimed LP, he has been deeply immersed in fostering the experimental music community through various side ventures. He founded the independent label No Gold, which has served as a platform for artists pushing the boundaries of sound, and he launched Essential Tremors, an experimental festival series that has hosted events in various cities. These projects have allowed Andrew to step into the role of a curator and facilitator, perhaps providing the necessary distance from his own work to allow for the radical shift in perspective found on the new album.
In tandem with the new album announcement, Liars has confirmed an extensive run of live dates across the United Kingdom and Europe scheduled for October. This tour represents more than just a promotional circuit; it is a celebration of the project’s enduring legacy. A highlight of the itinerary is a scheduled appearance at Poland’s prestigious Unsound Festival in Krakow. There, Andrew will perform the seminal 2006 album Drum’s Not Dead in its entirety to mark the 20th anniversary of its release. Drum’s Not Dead remains a high-water mark for the mid-2000s experimental scene, a record that famously pitted two fictional characters—Drum and Mt. Heart Attack—against one another in a percussive, ritualistic exploration of anxiety and creativity. The album was famously ranked at No. 69 on Pitchfork’s list of the top 200 albums of the 2000s, and its influence can still be heard in the rhythmic architecture of the new single, "Ice Pick, Kalamazoo."
The upcoming tour will take Andrew through a diverse array of venues, from the intimate Control Club in Bucharest to the Paradiso in Amsterdam and the Moth Club in London. These performances will likely bridge the gap between the tribal, percussive experiments of the mid-aughts and the more industrial, atmospheric textures of the Kalamazoo era. For fans who have followed Liars through their various incarnations—from the dance-punk of Brooklyn to the electronic minimalism of Berlin and the hallucinatory rock of the Australian bush—this new era promises a return to the project’s roots in social observation and sonic discomfort.
The tracklist for A Ban on Plastic Bag Bans suggests a journey through various states of alarm and reflection. Titles like "Disaster Tropes," "Urgent as Always," and "Real Time Trespasser" hint at a record that is preoccupied with the speed of modern life and the constant intrusion of external crises into the private sphere. The closing track, "Out of Order," may serve as a final commentary on the systemic breakdowns that inspired the project. The album’s production, handled by Andrew, is expected to lean into the "3D" aesthetic mentioned in the video credits—a sound that is immersive, spatially complex, and intentionally disorienting.
As the music industry continues to grapple with its own environmental footprint and the shifting landscape of digital consumption, Angus Andrew’s return feels particularly timely. By naming his album after a legislative quirk and filming his videos at local rallies, he is tethering his art to a specific place and time, resisting the trend of placeless, algorithm-friendly pop. A Ban on Plastic Bag Bans is an invitation to look closer at the world around us, to acknowledge the toxins we breathe and the laws we live under, and to find the strange, haunting beauty hidden within the decay.
The album is currently available for pre-order, with various physical editions expected to reflect the industrial themes of the music. As March 2027 approaches, the anticipation for Liars’ latest transformation continues to build, reminding the music world that Angus Andrew remains one of the most vital and unpredictable voices in contemporary experimental music. Whether he is dissecting the myths of the past or the pollutions of the present, his work continues to serve as a mirror for a world that is often too messy to look at directly.
A Ban on Plastic Bag Bans Tracklist:
- Happy or Not
- Ice Pick, Kalamazoo
- Laced Plume
- Urgent as Always
- Deep Deeper
- Disaster Tropes
- Beat Creep Some Eyes
- Real Time Trespasser
- Shame!
- Retention Arc
- Out of Order
Liars 2026/2027 Tour Dates:
10-02 Bucharest, Romania – Control Club
10-03 Nantes, France – Le Lieu Unique
10-05 Milan, Italy – Arci Bellezza
10-09 Krakow, Poland – Unsound (Performing Drum’s Not Dead)
10-10 Belgrade, Serbia – Changeover Festival
10-12 Prague, Czech Republic – Punctum
10-13 Berlin, Germany – Neue Zukunft
10-15 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso
10-17 Kortrijk, Netherlands – Atelier Nooitgedacht
10-18 Liege, Belgium – Kultura
10-20 London, England – Moth Club
10-22 Paris, France – Boule Noire
10-24 Copenhagen, Denmark – Ideal Bar
