London’s art-rock luminaries Modern Woman have officially announced their highly anticipated debut album, Johnny’s Dreamworld, set for release on May 1st, 2026, via One Little Independent Records. The announcement arrives alongside the release of the lead single, ‘Dashboard Mary’, a cinematic track that captures the feverish exhilaration and subsequent “morning-after” comedown of a nocturnal escape.
Fronted by songwriter and literature graduate Sophie Harris (who you can hear solo in our recent Mixtape – KLOF No. 60), the quartet—comprising David Denyer, Juan Brint-Gutiérrez, and Adam Blackhurst—has evolved from an intimate solo project into a formidable live force. Their sound is a complex tapestry of post-punk grit, avant-garde textures, and folk lyricism. Working with producer Joel Burton, the band has captured a raw, unpredictable immediacy that mirrors the intensity of their celebrated stage performances.
“I wanted to write ‘Dashboard Mary’ like a film,” Harris explains. “I wanted to confront the feeling of the ‘morning after’ and the decisions made during that time of exhilaration the night before.”
The single is accompanied by a surreal 16mm film, self-directed by Harris. Shot across locations ranging from the snowscapes of Iceland to the brutalist architecture of London’s Barbican, the visual follows a dream sequence in which a threatening spectre pursues Harris across the borders of both geography and the subconscious.
Stream Dashboard Mary: https://modernwoman.lnk.to/dashboard-mary
Johnny’s Dreamworld promises to be a “tender but confrontational collage,” exploring themes of female fixation, childhood morality, and possibly one of our favourite themes – hauntology: ‘some locations, places, houses have this weird energy running through them’.
On the album, Harris shares:
“A vital theme I’ve always wanted in Modern Woman is the idea of conflicting things, of the tender/harsh, loud/quiet and scrappy/polished. The style of everybody’s playing, drawing from a melting pot of influences, coming together to form something new.”
Fans can catch Modern Woman’s live show starting next week, as the band embarks on an extensive European and UK tour supporting Ezra Furman.
Live Dates
Supporting Ezra Furman
19 Jan – Vienna, AT – Arena Wien
20 Jan – Graz, AT – Dom Im Berg
21 Jan – Linz, AT – Posthof
22 Jan – Munich, DE – Technikum
24 Jan – Prague, CZ – Cargo Gallery
25 Jan – Berlin, DE – Columbia Theater
26 Jan – Hamburg, DE – Molotow
27 Jan – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso Tolhuistuin
28 Jan – Antwerp, BE – Trix Club
29 Jan – Paris, FR – Le Cabaret Sauvage
1 Feb – Glasgow, UK – The Art School
2 Feb – Manchester, UK – New Century Hall
3 Feb – Bristol, UK – Electric Bristol
4 Feb – London, UK – O2 Forum Kentish Town
More: https://modernwoman.band/