The Utopiates released their latest single, ‘Montezuma’, at the end of July via V2 Records. It’s the fourth single from the upcoming second album due in early 2026.
The previous three singles have taken the band on a journey away from the elegant baggy grooves of their debut album. ‘Neighbourhood’ and ‘Reputation’ took them to NYC and Nu-rave, whilst ‘Evanescent’ became their most left-field track to date with its Skint & Demoralised-esque spoken word.
Banner image & artwork courtesy of the band.
On ‘Montezuma’, the flirtations with LCD Soundsystem, Tom Vek, and The Rapture chill out and mesh with the effortlessness of the debut album. The bassline has the funk of those above but has been given Peter Hook’s iconic dose of bliss.
The keys glisten on sun-kissed waves lapping over pristine beaches, allowing frontman Daniel Popplewell to paint pictures of love in technicolour. Lyrically, this is comfortably Popplewell’s finest moment to date. Too many writers leap to the feeling of love as a get-rich-quick songwriting scheme. Popplewell takes you on a journey from the bleakness of 9 to 5:
“So, pleased to meet you and what do you do? / I fake all these friendships for cash / It’s dragging me down and it’s stealing my prime”
Then reminds you of why you sell your soul to get there:
“Dream of the horizon / Close your eyes and see, / We lived and died in Montezuma”
The Utopiates may be in a lazy mode sonically here, but the creativity at play is making next year’s album a drool-worthy prospect.