UK nu-gazers Split Chain announce debut album ‘motionblur’

Split Chain have been on the rise and now they’ve announced their debut album, due in July via Epitaph.

Mar 27, 2025 - 15:51

UK nu-gazers Split Chain announce debut album ‘motionblur’

UK nu-gazers Split Chain have been on the rise and today they announced their debut album, motionblur, due out July 11 via Epitaph (pre-order). Vocalist/guitarist Bert Martinez-Cowles says motionblur “is a record that tells you that it’s okay to be your authentic self. This is the story of what we’ve been through, and this is the story of who we are today. You either let the things you have experienced define you, or you choose a different path. You can be whoever you want to be. If there’s one thing I hope people take from the album, it’s that.” Bassist Tom Davies adds:

motionblur is as much a coming-of-age story as it is a celebration of our adolescence and the things that defined us. We wanted to encapsulate the feelings of angst and isolation that so many struggle with growing up—but just as importantly, we wanted to honor the things that shaped us: the lifestyles, the music, and the pop culture that became part of our identity.
This album is an amalgamation of our individual and collective experiences. While its themes can be dark, at its core, ‘motionblur’ is about resilience—about making it through without letting those experiences weigh you down. It was crucial for us to create an album that felt like a cohesive piece of art while still being sonically diverse. We wanted to capture the feeling of growing up in an era when albums were more than just collections of songs—they were experiences, meant to be played from start to finish, over and over again.

The album includes “I’m Not Dying To Be Here,” as well as the just-released “bored. tired. torn.” Like their other recent singles, it puts them in the lineage of heavy, shoegazy stuff like Deftones and Superheaven, and it comes with a Zak Pinchin-directed video that you can check out below.

About the new song, Bert says, “‘bored.tired.torn’ explores the difficulty and pain of growing up in a broken childhood home. Thematically the song centers on whether or not someone should have to deal with the shit they’re dealt by relatives just because they’re family. The song is a declaration against that, and tries to positively convey the message that nobody has to put up with it just because they’re share blood with the people hurting them. Don’t feel bound to it just because society would expect you to, always make the best decision for yourself regardless of what anybody else makes of it. You’ll be grateful you did.”

Split Chain also have tour dates coming up, including a run with Tarantula, Louisville’s hardcore-focused LDB Fest, the NJ stop of Better Lovers‘ tour at Blackbox on May 2 (also with Human Error), and more.

Split Chain motionblur art

Tracklist
1. Under The Wire
2. bored. tired. torn
3. I’m Not Dying To Be Here
4. Rookie
5. who am i?
6. SPIT
7. greyintheblue
8. The Space In Between
9. Subside
10. Headway
11. my mistake…

Split Chain Tarantual tour 2

Split Chain — 2025 Tour Dates
April 24 – Pittsburgh, PA – Preserving Underground w/ Teenage Wrist
April 25 – Louisville, KY – LDB Festival
April 26 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade w/ Silverstein
April 27 – Orlando, FL – Will’s Pub
April 29 – Raleigh, NC – Kings
April 30 – Washington, DC – Union Stage
May 1 – Philadelphia, PA – Foto Club
May 2 – New Jersey W/ Better Lovers
May 3 – Toronto, ON – Hard Luck
4 May – Clinton, MI – Edgemen
May 6 – Chicago, IL – Beat Kitchen
May 7 – Columbus, OH – Ace Of Cups