Album of the Week: Turin Brakes-SPACEHOPPER

Two decades, ten albums, and still defying gravity—Turin Brakes have landed with Spacehopper, their most self-aware and sonically expansive release to date.

Out now via Cooking Vinyl, this tenth studio album marks a huge milestone for the South London band who first lit up the early 2000s with their Mercury-nominated debut The Optimist LP. Over twenty years later, they return to the same studio that birthed that breakthrough, not to recreate the past, but to interrogate it—with warmth, wit, and a clear-eyed sense of who they are now.

Spacehopper is a record that feels lived-in and lovingly made. There's the nostalgic shimmer of opener The Message, the breezy escapism of the title track, and the stunning Old Habits, an Americana-soaked reflection on endurance, legacy, and the quiet beauty of sticking around. Elsewhere, they dive into psychedelia (What’s Underneath), indie-folk melancholia (Felt, Lullaby), and alt-country paranoia (Pays to Be Paranoid), while never losing that unmistakable Turin Brakes melodic core.

Produced alongside Grammy-winner Guy Massey, this is the sound of a band totally comfortable in their own skin—playful, reflective, and not afraid to get a little weird. “This band is the old habit,” says Olly Knights, and thank god it is. Few acts reach ten albums with this much heart still beating in the music.

Whether you're a long-time fan or coming in fresh, Spacehopper is a reminder of why Turin Brakes have quietly endured: they keep evolving without ever letting go of the soul. That alone makes it a worthy Album of the Week.