Today, GoGo Penguin, the Manchester trio known for their blend of jazz, classical and electronic influences since forming in 2012, announce their seventh studio album NECESSARY FICTIONS due out June 20. It’s a bold new chapter in the band’s evolution and represents a deep dive into identity, authenticity, and transformation. Pre-order now + watch video for “Fallowfield Loops” here. 

Alongside the announcement is the first single “Fallowfield Loops,” a punchy, melancholic, and danceable tribute to their hometown. The accompanying video — directed by pianist Chris Illingworth and bassist Nick Blacka — features evocative visuals of Manchester’s iconic Toast Rack building, the brutalist landmark seen on the album’s cover, and serves as a visual extension of the track’s mood: stark, nostalgic, and full of movement.

GoGo Penguin’s last album Everything Is Going to Be OK (2023) found the band reeling from almost breaking up, a new drummer in the form of Jon Scott (formerly of Mulatu Atsake’s band), coping with the death of family members, grief, the pandemic, and finding solace in the studio as they journeyed through uncertainty, survival and ultimately, resilience. 

With NECESSARY FICTIONS, GoGo Penguin — Chris Illingworth (piano, synths), Nick Blacka (bass, synths), and Jon Scott (drums) — have embraced new textures and ideas more fully than ever before. They are operating from a place of confidence, having truly found their groove with Scott, and Illingworth and Blacka both in their fifth decade, and truly embracing who they are without fear. The album sees them expanding their signature sound, drawing deeper into modular synths, and, for the first time, welcoming other voices into their sonic world.

“This is what we want to make right now, and it feels authentic,” says Blacka. NECESSARY FICTIONS is the sound of a band unafraid to reflect who they are — not just in sound, but in spirit and surroundings.