Inc 18 Mar – Boiler Shop, Newcastle
The Cribs returned with the announcement of their first new album in over five years. Selling A Vibe will be released on 9th January 2026. Also revealed today is the album’s lead single, ‘Summer Seizures’, which received its radio airplay debut from Steve Lamacq on BBC 6 Music.
For the three Jarman brothers, The Cribs has always been a heart-on-sleeve endeavour, documenting a realness and honesty, imbued with a raw spirit and a love for pop melodies, that winks with a healthy skepticism at a world increasingly weighed down by quantity over quality, style over substance. You need only look as far as the new album title for evidence of that. It can be argued though that with Selling A Vibe, that honesty is increasingly turned in the direction of each other, the first time they have so openly done so on one of their records.
With a feeling in the camp that the band were stuck on the release-tour-release-tour treadmill, and with the brothers living apart across three timezones, they knew they needed to revive the essence of their relationship as family, and get away from solely feeling like band members. A summer spent together with no music, no writing, just reconnection proved the perfect place to start that process, something they say they’re grateful for the opportunity to do after 20 years together making music.
In the same way that Selling A Vibe was written quickly, with the aim of anchoring things to a specific moment, lead single ‘Summer Seizures’ acts as its own timestamp. It was the first song they wrote together in the album sessions, and set the band on the way to Selling A Vibe.
Guitarist and vocalist Ryan Jarman comments on the single: “Lyrically, I was in the kitchen in my apartment in NYC one morning and I could feel that summer was starting. I’d had the best summer of my life here and then, a few years ago, undoubtedly the hardest so when I could feel it coming around again it was a way of marking time and looking at where I’m at now and trying to tie it all together. It’s a song about love, tragedy and learning to live with yourself, all set during summertime in NYC.”
Expanding about the video, he says: “We wanted it to be no gimmicks, done to a really high quality and just let the band and the song do the talking, so we spoke to our old friend Andy Knowles (who happens to be an amazing director) and decided to shoot on 16mm film and just present us as we are. In a digital age of infinite options, shooting on film meant that it had to be quick, spontaneous and most importantly, natural. Of course those guys spent ages making sure it’d look amazing before the cameras started rolling, but we got exactly what we were looking for: the band as we are now, in our natural environment on celluloid.”
If behind the scenes Selling A Vibe became about a return to truer relationships, the goal with producer Patrick Wimberly was very much about not reverting to type. Having worked with bucket-list rock producers on previous albums – Edwyn Collins, Alex Kapranos, Nick Launay, Dave Fridmann, Steve Albini, and Ric Ocasek to name a few – the appointment of former Chairlift man Patrick Wimberly for Selling A Vibe came from a place of continued curiosity, possibility, and adventure. They wanted to work with someone who operated in a more contemporary way, and Wimberly’s list of production credits (Solange, MGMT, Lil Yachty) more than caught the eye. “We’d always said if we made another record we would specifically focus on enhancing the pop element of the band, so Patricks way of working and experience in that realm seemed a great fit whilst also being a completely new experience”. For The Cribs, it wasn’t about recapturing lightning-in-a-bottle moments of yore, it was about breaking the bottle entirely and seeing what could be inside. That meant a slower, more considered recording process, and time in the studio to indulge their love of melody. Selling A Vibe becomes a record not only anchored in reconnection, but one put together to illicit that same response.
Bassist and vocalist Gary Jarman says: “I think as time has gone by our albums have become more and more open – and as such the songs on Selling A Vibe feel very personal. So it can be nerve wracking releasing them because they matter so much to us. I know that may sound overly romantic or idealistic, but ultimately – it’s the only thing that matters when all is said and done. Did we connect with people? We don’t want this to be seen as an “indie rock” record or a “punk” record or whatever – all those things that used to seem to matter to us – our only hope is that people enjoy and connect with the songs and lyrics for what they are. We want them to be for everyone, really. And as such, I suppose you could say that makes it our most ambitious album, as we have fully given ourselves over to that. In short, we sincerely hope you enjoy it.”
Key to the band’s creative output is that they now only release music when it feels like they have something new to contribute. A new record needs to add something to their, and their fans lives. In this case, the renewal of treasured relationships seems as good a reason as any for their return after a five-year absence.
Pre-order upcoming album Selling A Vibe HERE.
Listen to new single ‘Summer Seizures’ on streaming services here and share the video via YouTube below.
The Cribs are also announcing a headline UK tour for Spring 2026. Ticket pre-sale begins 10am on Wednesday 20th August, with general sale from 10am on Friday 22nd August.
Ahead of their 2026 UK shows, The Cribs have partnered with War Child for a very special live performance in the intimate surrounds of London’s Shacklewell Arms on Saturday 23rd August. They then perform at All Points East the same weekend, before departing for North America.
The Cribs live in 2025
23 Aug – The Shacklewell Arms, London, UK (In Support of War Child)
24 Aug – All Points East, London, UK
19 Sep – Reggies Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA (Riot Fest Late Night)
20 Sep – Riot Festival, Chicago, IL, USA
23 Sep – Lee’s Palace, Toronto, ON, CAN
25 Sep – The Sinclair, Cambridge, MA, USA
27 Sep – Warsaw, Brooklyn, NY, USA
The Cribs UK headline tour 2026
18 Mar – Boiler Shop, Newcastle, UK – Tickets here
20 Mar – Foundry, Sheffield, UK – Tickets here
21 Mar – Albert Hall, Manchester, UK – Tickets here
22 Mar – O2 Institute, Birmingham, UK – Tickets here
24 Mar – Rock City, Nottingham, UK – Tickets here
25 Mar – Tramshed, Cardiff, UK – Tickets here
28 Mar – Concorde 2, Brighton, UK – Tickets here