Post-hardcore stalwarts Basement plug back in after eight years away, and the current runs cleaner than ever on a triumphant fifth album.
Words by Felix Bartlett | May 07, 2026
To be wired is to be alive to something. Caffeinated, charged, attentive. After eight years away, two of which the world spent unplugged entirely, Basement could have been forgiven for returning sluggish. Instead, the Ipswich five-piece sound positively electrified on their fifth full-length, a record that channels the restless energy of musicians who clearly missed each other and the work in equal measure.
Opener Time Waster does exactly what the faithful would want, all familiar collision of melodic ache and gnashing teeth, Andrew Fisher’s vocals chasing the closing chorus until it splinters straight into the title track. WIRED itself is the album’s mission statement: a jungle-tinged rhythm section pinning down clean guitars before everything detonates into one of the most immediate hooks the band have ever written. Drummer James Fisher, who moonlights as frontman in London hardcore upstarts Dynamite, plays out of his skin throughout.
There are heavier corners than anything Basement have committed to tape in years. Deadweight bears the technicality and bulk of Colourmeinkindness fed through a decade of touring callouses, while Sever flails gloriously before dissolving into white noise. Equally, they have never sounded more comfortable in their softer skin. Broken By Design drifts in on indie-leaning chords that wouldn’t feel out of place on a Slowdive B-side, and The Way I Feel reads as an open love letter to the scene that raised them, all distorted reverence and bleary-eyed devotion.
Embrace is the side-A centrepiece, an atmospheric exhale that pivots on a halftime riff dropped with the timing of a thrown punch. By the time Head Alight saunters in with what might be Fisher’s finest vocal turn on record, it’s clear the band have located a sweet spot between the grit they’re known for and a more expansive, grown-up palette. Closer Summer’s End ties it all together, soaked in Cure-ish chorus and the kind of nostalgic warmth that makes you reach for the play button before the last note has decayed.
Eight years was a long wait. WIRED is the kind of record that makes you stop counting.
Verdict: 💀💀💀💀
For fans of: Turnstile, Superheaven, The Menzingers
WIRED is released on May 8 via Run For Cover.
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