“Physical is about falling in love with life again,” say the Montreal synth-pop cult heroes, as they unveil their first new music ahead of their fourth album.

Words by Felix Bartlett | June 23, 2026

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Desire have shared a new single, Summer Skin, and announced their fourth studio album, Physical, arriving later this year via Italians Do It Better.

For two decades, the Montreal duo of Megan Louise and Johnny Jewel have been making music for romantics. Emerging from the shadows of underground synth-pop, they built a world entirely their own, one where beauty lingers, heartbreak glows and every song feels like the opening of a love story.

Physical picks up that thread. Led by the euphoric Summer Skin, out today, it is a record about attraction, freedom, pleasure, movement and being completely present while life is happening. Windows down, a favourite song landing at exactly the right moment, the feeling that summer might never end.

“Summer Skin opens with the sound of light from our nearest star dancing across the water,” says Johnny Jewel. “Yesterday is here to stay. That cyclical motif echoes the past lives we all carry with us, but each day is new and anything is possible. Summer brings us a recurring romantic optimism. Let’s celebrate and live in the moment. If the world feels like it’s ending, turn the radio on and dance. Drip Drip.”

Written between continents, airports, hotel rooms, backstage corridors and late nights at home, Physical captures the moments we spend our lives chasing, and the memories we carry long after they’re gone.

“Physical is about falling in love with life again,” the band say. “The people around you, the music you’re listening to, the sunlight on your skin, the moments you wish could last forever.”

Check out the video for Summer Skin here:

Desire are also heading out across the UK and Europe later this year, with tickets available here.

Desire’s UK and European tour dates are:

November

15 Prague Bike Jesus
17 Copenhagen Hotel Cecil
18 Berlin Frannz Club
20 Groningen Simplon Poppodium
21 Rotterdam Rotown
23 Brussels Beursschouwburg
24 Lille La Grand Mix
25 London Colour Factory
27 Manchester White Hotel
28 Glasgow Stereo
30 Paris Petit Bain

December

01 Grenoble L’Ampérage
02 Bern Dachstock
04 Ravenna Bronson
05 Rome Monk
08 Zagreb Mochvara
09 Belgrade Zappa Baza