By Azzam Bilal 
HangupsMusic.com – New York, The landscape of contemporary industrial post-punk is shifting once again as Model/Actriz, the Brooklyn-based outfit known for their visceral, high-intensity performances and jagged sonic textures, announces the release of their latest EP, Swan Songs. This new three-track collection arrives as a swift follow-up to their 2025 full-length album, Pirouette, which solidified the band’s reputation as one of the most provocative and essential voices in the modern underground scene. By delivering Swan Songs less than a year after their previous major statement, the group signals a period of relentless creative output, capturing a specific moment of transition and experimentation that followed the grueling sessions of their sophomore record.
The EP functions as a concise but potent exploration of the band’s signature dichotomy: the tension between abrasive, industrial machinery and vulnerable, human intimacy. Titled Swan Songs, the record is anchored by two high-velocity, propulsive tracks—"Glassman" and "Majesty"—which serve as bookends to the somber, more reflective centerpiece, "Thank You By Dido." While the title might suggest a finality, the music feels like a rebirth, or at the very least, a shedding of skin. Frontman Cole Haden described the project as a "capsule of experiments," noting that the material was forged in the immediate wake of the Pirouette sessions. According to Haden, these tracks were not originally intended to form a cohesive unit but naturally coalesced into a "moody vignette" that the band felt compelled to share with their growing audience.
Musically, Swan Songs continues the trajectory Model/Actriz has been charting since their debut, Dogsbody. The opening track, "Glassman," is a masterclass in tension, utilizing metallic percussion and a driving bassline that feels both club-ready and claustrophobic. It showcases the band’s ability to turn noise into something rhythmic and danceable, a feat that has earned them comparisons to industrial pioneers while maintaining a distinctly modern New York edge. The closing track, "Majesty," doubles down on this energy, pushing the tempo and the distortion to a fever pitch, providing a cathartic end to the short-form release. In contrast, "Thank You By Dido" offers a rare moment of stillness. It is a track that leans into the "somber" descriptor provided by the band, allowing Haden’s vocal delivery to take center stage amidst a more atmospheric, brooding soundscape.
The release of Swan Songs is not the only major news from the Model/Actriz camp. To support the new EP and continue the momentum from Pirouette, the band has unveiled a massive 2026 world tour itinerary. The tour is scheduled to begin this Wednesday, March 25th, in Durham, North Carolina, at the Motorco Music Hall. This kickoff marks the beginning of a grueling six-month trek that will see the band traversing North America before heading across the Atlantic for an extensive run of European and United Kingdom dates. The scale of the tour reflects the band’s rapidly ascending profile, moving from intimate DIY spaces to some of the most prestigious festivals and venues in the world.
A significant highlight of the spring leg is the band’s inclusion in the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee, a curated event known for hosting avant-garde and boundary-pushing artists. From there, the group will head through the American South and Southwest, including stops at Nashville’s Third Man Records and a highly anticipated double-weekend appearance at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California. The Coachella booking, in particular, serves as a testament to the band’s crossover appeal; despite their roots in the noise and post-punk scenes, their electrifying stage presence has garnered attention from the broader alternative music community.
Following their North American dates, which wrap up in late April in Chicago, Model/Actriz will head to Europe for a summer festival circuit. The band has a particularly strong presence in France this year, with scheduled appearances at Art Rock Festival, TINALS Festival, and Aucard de Tours, among others. Their European journey also includes high-profile slots at Primavera a la Ciutat in Barcelona and the NOS Primavera Sound Festival in Porto, Portugal. These performances will allow the band to bring their "confrontation as opportunity for intimacy" philosophy to massive international crowds, testing the limits of their sound in open-air environments.
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The tour concludes with a dedicated run through the United Kingdom and the Netherlands in September. Notable stops include London’s ICA and the Rescue Rooms in Nottingham, before the band makes appearances at the End of the Road Festival in Dorset and the Manchester Psych Fest. The final curtain call for this massive undertaking is set for September 6th at the Edinburgh Psych Fest in Scotland. This extensive schedule suggests that the band is fully committed to their reputation as a formidable live act, one that thrives on the physical connection and raw energy of a touring environment.
For those who have followed Model/Actriz since their early days in the New York scene, this current era feels like the fulfillment of a long-standing promise. The band—comprised of Haden, guitarist Jack Hamill, bassist Aaron Shapiro, and drummer Ruben Radlauer—has spent years refining a sound that is as intellectually stimulating as it is physically demanding. Their music often deals with themes of desire, voyeurism, and the complexities of human connection, often framed within the context of a harsh, urban environment. Swan Songs and the subsequent tour represent a bridge between their foundational work and an unknown, yet clearly ambitious, future.
The "moody vignette" described by Haden serves as a perfect descriptor for the band’s current aesthetic. There is a sense of fleeting beauty within the chaos of their music—a "swan song" for the versions of themselves they left behind during the creation of Pirouette. As they prepare to take these new experiments on the road, the band remains one of the most unpredictable and rewarding acts in the current musical climate. Whether they are performing in a small club in New Orleans or on a massive stage in Istanbul, the mission remains the same: to turn the act of performance into a shared moment of intensity and truth.
Fans looking to dive deeper into the band’s ethos are encouraged to revisit their history of interviews and live recordings, which often highlight the intellectual rigor behind their abrasive exterior. As they embark on this 2026 journey, Model/Actriz isn’t just touring a record; they are continuing a conversation with their audience that began in the basements of Brooklyn and has now reached a global scale. With Swan Songs now available for streaming and the tour about to commence, the coming months promise to be a definitive chapter in the story of a band that refuses to stay still.
Model/Actriz 2026 Tour Dates:
03-25 Durham, NC – Motorco Music Hall
03-27 Knoxville, TN – Big Ears Festival
03-28 Nashville, TN – The Blue Room, Third Man Records
03-31 Birmingham, AL – Saturn
04-01 New Orleans, LA – Gasa Gasa
04-03 Austin, TX – Mohawk
04-04 San Antonio, TX – Paper Tiger
04-08 Sacramento, CA – Channel 24
04-09 Sacramento, CA – Channel 24
04-12 Indio, CA – Coachella Music and Arts Festival
04-14 El Paso, TX – Abraham Chavez Theatre
04-16 Albuquerque, NM – Revel
04-17 Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
04-19 Indio, CA – Coachella Music and Arts Festival
04-22 Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater
04-24 St. Louis, MO – Duck Room at Blueberry Hill
04-25 Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
05-24 Saint-Brieuc, France – Art Rock Festival
05-26 Nantes, France – Le Ferrailleur
05-27 Le Havre, France – Le Tetris
05-28 Brussels, Belgium – Nuits Bota Festival
05-30 Rovereto, Italy – Poplar Utopia Festival
05-31 Lausanne, Switzerland – Le Romandie
06-01 – 06/04 Barcelona, Spain – Primavera a la Ciutat
06-05 Nîmes, France – TINALS Festival
06-06 Bordeaux, France – Rock School Barbey
06-09 Paris, France – La Station
06-10 Tours, France – Aucard de Tours Festival
06-12 Eindhoven, Netherlands – Best Kept Secret
06-13 Porto, Portugal – NOS Primavera Sound Festival
06-16 Istanbul, Turkey – Blind
09-01 London, United Kingdom – ICA
09-08 Nottingham, United Kingdom – Rescue Rooms
09-12 Heusden, Netherlands – Misty Fields Festival
09-15 Athens, Greece – An Club
09-03 – 09-04 Dorset, United Kingdom – End of the Road Festival
09-05 Manchester, United Kingdom – Manchester Psych Fest
09-06 Edinburgh, United Kingdom – Edinburgh Psych Fest