The first thing Bicep mention about their new music is not a synth or a drum machine. It is a room. The London-based duo say they moved into a new studio and built their own vocal booth, and that the booth changed how they work by letting them record singers live in the room alongside them. Three tracks came out of that set-up on Friday 25 September, released together on Ninja Tune as Air / Lemonder / Viper.
Two of the three carry guest vocals. SOARR sings on “Air”, and “Viper” is credited to Bicep and Clark, the producer the duo describe as one of their all-time favourites, with vocals from Saskia. “Lemonder” has no guest credit. According to the release page on Bandcamp, the tracks run 4:22, 4:28 and 4:43, a little over 13 minutes in total.
What the Vocal Booth Changed
Bicep have framed the release as the start of a new chapter, and the reason they give is practical rather than artistic. In the statement that accompanied the tracks, reported by Stereogum, the pair said the move to a new studio with a booth of their own had transformed their process and let them step up their recording, so that vocalists such as SOARR and Saskia could add a new layer to the sound while working alongside them.
The booth is a small piece of infrastructure with a large effect on process. A voice recorded in the same room as the people arranging the track can be shaped as it is captured: phrasing adjusted to the chord changes, a line sung again to sit against a new pad, a take chosen because it works with the drums rather than against them. Bicep did not describe their sessions in that level of detail, but the booth is the variable they chose to highlight above any instrument or piece of software.
The collaboration with Clark is the other change. The duo said working with him added another dimension to the project and pushed them further while keeping their core energy intact. Crediting “Viper” jointly to Bicep and Clark puts a second producer’s hand on one of the three tracks, and makes it the only one of the three released under a shared artist name.
Three Tracks, Three Different Readings
Early write-ups do not agree on what the release sounds like, which is a useful sign that the three tracks pull in different directions. Stereogum called all three “warm and dreamy” and heard them as a set that works together as a tribute to club culture. Acid Stag split them apart: it described “Lemonder” as the melodic and atmospheric side of Bicep, while “Viper” and “Air” push further into heavier club territory, with driving rhythms and hypnotic synth work.
The duo’s own description, shared with fans before release and quoted by Acid Stag, called the tracks three different parts of a world they have been building in the studio. Bandcamp’s tags for the release, disco, electronic, house and techno, point the same way: a range of tempos and moods rather than one sound pushed across three edits.
For DJs, that spread is the practical point. Three tracks of similar length but different weight give a set more than one way into the release, depending on whether the room needs atmosphere or momentum. The downloads are sold as 24-bit, 44.1kHz files, according to Bandcamp, which matters for anyone playing them on a large system.
Air, Lemonder and Viper, Track by Track
“Air” (feat. SOARR), 4:22. The release opens with the track that closes the film story. In Doubiago’s trilogy, “Air” belongs to sunrise, the end of the 24 hours. It is one of the two vocal tracks, with SOARR among the singers the duo say they could now record live in the room, and Acid Stag grouped it with “Viper” on the heavier, more club-focused side of the release. That places a track critics heard as club-weighted at the point in the story where the party ends.
“Lemonder”, 4:28. The only track without a guest, and the one Acid Stag singled out as the melodic and atmospheric side of Bicep. In the films it belongs to the beginning: the set-up in the countryside, before the night starts. As the one track made by the duo alone, it is the clearest guide to where their own sound currently sits, without a second producer or a guest voice shaping it.
“Viper” (Bicep and Clark, feat. Saskia), 4:43. The longest of the three and the only joint credit. Its film covers the energy and chaos of the night, the peak of the 24 hours. Acid Stag placed it with “Air” among the heavier tracks, and the duo said Clark pushed them further while keeping their core energy intact. With Saskia’s vocal captured in the new studio, “Viper” is the one track that combines both of the changes Bicep have highlighted: an outside producer in the arrangement and a voice recorded in the room.
The Films That Follow a Free Party for 24 Hours
The release comes with a trilogy of short films directed by Ryan Doubiago and produced by CANADA. According to Bicep’s official site, they follow two UK free party crews across 24 hours. The story starts with the countryside set-up in “Lemonder”, moves through the energy and chaos of the night in “Viper”, and closes at sunrise with “Air”.
That order differs from the tracklist, which runs “Air”, “Lemonder”, “Viper”. Heard as a release, the record starts at sunrise. Watched as a story, it ends there. The site describes the films as a record of the people, friendships and collective effort behind the parties, and of a culture built around community and sound systems.
Electronic Groove reported that the films document the preparation, peak and aftermath of a free party in the English countryside. Choosing crew-run free parties as the visual subject, rather than their own shows, is a statement about where the duo locate the roots of the music. The release artwork is by Viktor H.
Where Bicep Have Been Since Isles
Bicep’s most recent album, Isles, came out in 2021. Since then, Stereogum noted, the duo have spent several years releasing music through their CHROMA series. Their Bandcamp page lists CHROMA 010 in June 2025, the TAKKUUK original soundtrack in July 2025 and CHROMA 000 in November 2025 before this release.
The new tracks are not framed as singles from an announced album. Acid Stag reported that they arrive as the duo continue work on their next album, and described Bicep as still in exploration mode, moving between euphoric, emotional and more rave-focused material without settling into one lane. That reading fits the spread across the three tracks, and it leaves open whether any of them will appear on a full-length record.
The duo have also been testing new material in public. Electronic Groove reported that they previewed it during a largely ambient set on The Lot Radio and at an intimate DJ pop-up at Signal in Brooklyn, two settings chosen for listening rather than scale.
Bicep Live Returns at the Royal Albert Hall
The live show is coming back too. According to Electronic Groove, Bicep Live returns in November after a three-year hiatus, with a show at London’s Royal Albert Hall. The room is a sharp contrast to the free parties in the films: a Victorian concert hall rather than a field with a rig and a generator.
The booking is the date announced for the live show’s return, and the obvious place to hear how songs built around live vocal takes translate to a performance setting. Whether SOARR or Saskia will appear on the night has not been announced.
London’s grand rooms are opening up to club music this autumn. electronicmusic.news recently reported how fabric took a four-year booking at St Paul’s Cathedral, becoming the cathedral’s exclusive partner for contemporary music events, another case of dance music moving into a building made for something else.
How to Hear the Release Now
All three tracks are out now through Ninja Tune on the major streaming services and on Bandcamp, where the digital release sells for $3 or more. Stereogum has embedded all three films alongside its report on the release.
Taken together, Air / Lemonder / Viper is a small release with a clear message about method. A new room, a vocal booth and a trusted collaborator have changed how Bicep make records, and the three tracks are the first public evidence of what that change sounds like. The next test comes in November, when the songs meet the Royal Albert Hall.
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