The William Blakes' eleventh studio album, TIGER BY THE TAIL, will be released on Friday, October 16, 2026 via Speed of Sound. The nine songs are based on a conscious artistic choice: to allow space for human variation instead of perfecting every performance to a uniform finish. The band describes the album as a response to a culture marked by algorithmic formulas, artificial intelligence, and a striving for perfection.
The album's core idea is to let go of control. The press material connects this approach to contemporary anxiety, major changes in life, and existential searching. Instead of treating such questions as problems that can be solved with polished production, the group makes imperfection a part of the album's character. According to the band's description, the music's vitality stems from the differences and unexpected turns that can arise when musicians react to each other.
This attitude applies to how music is created, not to technology in general. According to the press material, the band believes digital tools can help and inspire, while the expressive core of music comes from direct human communication. Singer Kristian Leth has expressed concern that machines draw material from music, books, and art and recombine it. TIGER BY THE TAIL translates that concern into an artistic stance focusing on people making decisions together.
A process built on trust
The recordings reflect the album’s preference for spontaneity. According to Leth, the vocals were recorded as raw live takes without Auto-Tune. The performances retain differences between choruses, while the guitar parts change as the songs develop. Instead of correcting the variations, the band chose to leave them in, highlighting the instability as a source of movement and emotion.
Work on the album began in a studio in the countryside on Funen owned by Bo Rande, the band’s trumpeter and keyboardist. Rande created unusual sounds and loops and sent them to the other members. Each worked for a while to develop their own response before bass, drums, guitars, and vocals were added. The group's guiding principle during the creative phase was to keep analytical overthinking out of the studio and accept each other's ideas.
The four musicians – Leth, Fridolin Nordsø, Rande and Frederik Nordsø – have played together for more than 30 years, according to the press material. Work in The William Blakes continues in parallel with international solo careers, but the group has regularly returned to the band’s shared identity. The press material states that the debut album was released in 2008 and describes it as released “with Wayne Coyne,” without specifying his role.
On TIGER BY THE TAIL the long-standing relationship forms the basis for a less controlled way of working. The album’s nine tracks gather individual contributions while also preserving traces of the process: shifting vocal takes, changing guitar parts, and ideas that emerged collectively rather than being predetermined. The result is described as a cohesive record where each performance does not have to sound the same.
In a musical environment the band describes as increasingly characterized by algorithms and polished hit formulas, TIGER BY THE TAIL argues for creative risk-taking and human imperfection. It's not about completely rejecting machines, but about preserving space where musicians can listen, react, and allow the imperfections to remain. The album’s fundamental idea is that music can gain greater power when the creators let go and allow the unpredictable elements of collaboration to be heard.
