Elder Island share new single ‘Snapshot’ ahead of third album Hello Baby, Okay

Bristol trio Elder Island have shared their latest single ‘Snapshot’, the newest preview of their upcoming third album Hello Baby, Okay. Released today (March 11) via !K7, the track follows last month’s single ‘Pink Lemon’ and arrives after the band announced the forthcoming record alongside sold-out shows in London and Bristol.

Where ‘Pink Lemon’ leaned into sun-drenched soul-pop textures, ‘Snapshot’ pivots toward something more rhythmically urgent. Built around tightly interlocking percussion and a driving low-end pulse, the track unfolds through looping rhythmic patterns and gradual, emotive builds. Airy synths and swelling strings — the band’s first time incorporating a remotely recorded string quartet — add warmth to the track’s restless momentum.

The result is a song that balances movement and intimacy, sitting somewhere between club-ready energy and soft, emotionally direct songwriting. For vocalist Katy Sargent, ‘Snapshot’ also marks a shift in lyrical approach. Having often shied away from writing directly about love in the past, she embraced a simpler, more open style during the sessions for Hello Baby, Okay.

“We wanted Snapshot to feel like a journey,” the band explain. “In contrast to Pink Lemon’s classic pop structure we created a series of emotive builds and breaks that flow through the song. Key players are the rhythm and the strings — it was our first time using a string quartet, which was a joy. There’s a frantic energy to the track though the music and lyrics are soft and emotional, which creates an interesting juxtaposition.”

The accompanying video, directed by Bristol photographic lab Photographique, expands on the track’s reflective tone. Framed within the pages of a photo album, the visuals stretch a fleeting moment into something timeless, unfolding across rolling hills and an abandoned home outside the city.

‘Snapshot’ arrives as the next glimpse of Hello Baby, Okay, which is set for release May 8. The album marks a shift in the trio’s creative process. While 2021’s Swimming Static was carefully layered in the studio, the new record emerged from loose jam sessions, reconnecting the band with spontaneity and the energy of their live shows.

Rooted in the textures of 90s club culture and threaded with funk-leaning guitars, shimmering synths and propulsive rhythms, the ten-track album explores the tension between devotion and hedonism — something ‘Snapshot’ captures in miniature.

To accompany the album, the band will release a limited ‘Snapshot’ edition vinyl, available exclusively through their official store and Bandcamp. The release will include a signed insert and a photo wallet filled with images taken by the band during the recording process.

With momentum building ahead of the album’s release — and sold-out shows at London’s Oslo and Bristol’s Strange Brew on the horizon — ‘Snapshot’ finds Elder Island leaning into a more open and emotionally direct sound, without losing the intricate rhythms and electronic textures that have defined their music for the past decade.