GETTING TO KNOW: Dulakes

Leeds-based alternative rock outfit Dulakes return with their anticipated new single ‘Soulless’, arriving on 27 March 2026 across all streaming platforms. Formed in 2024 by university friends Ramsay Irwin (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Joe Rainbow (lead guitar, backing vocals), James Gavin (bass) and Nat Dowding (drums), the band have quickly built momentum through a steady run of releases and live shows.

Aggressive, melancholic and deliberately hard to categorise, Dulakes’ sound moves between introspective lyricism and towering guitar-driven dynamics. Soulless captures that contrast perfectly: a slow-burning alternative rock track built around melancholic verses, powerful choruses and a disruptive breakdown that heightens the impact of its euphoric finale.

The band describe the song as something that evolved in meaning over time, gradually becoming a reflection on emotional distance and separation. Ahead of the release, Dulakes spoke about interpretation, influences and how their sound is evolving.

Soulless has evolved in meaning since you first wrote it, becoming a song about gradual separation. How do you feel about listeners projecting their own interpretations onto something that “wasn’t really about anything” at the start?

I think that's the reason anyone writes music. It's a magical feeling having your art converted into unique and personal ideas. I don't care that it doesn't necessarily have a great meaning to me as long as it has an effect on others.

The track builds from melancholic verses into powerful, euphoric choruses, with a breakdown that disrupts the structure. How intentional was that dynamic arc when you were writing it — were you chasing a specific emotional payoff?

I think it was heavily inspired by the emotional contrast in Title Fight's song Head in the Ceiling Fan and Mayonnaise by The Smashing Pumpkins. I love when songs go from a soft and melancholic section straight into something more powerful. The song originally had a different structure when I wrote it but then I brought it to the band and we rearranged it so that it only has two choruses. I think this makes the breakdown and the last chorus much more worthwhile as a listener.

You’ve described your sound as aggressive, melancholic, and hard to categorise. With Soulless, where do you think you’re pushing your identity forward compared to your earlier releases?

We're definitely going for a more expensive and atmospheric alternative rock sound and moving away from what we were doing before. I think we didn't really know what kind of band we wanted to be before and now we all have a shared vision of where we want it to go. These songs we're releasing, I'd like to think, have a very cohesive sound to them and a consistent atmosphere throughout, with Soulless being the epitome of this sound.

Formed at university in 2024, you’ve had a steady run of live shows alongside your releases. How has playing together on stage shaped the way you write and structure songs like Soulless?

I think one of the main things that's changed from when we started is the accessibility to different pedals and tones. When we were playing this song early on it never really sounded how I wanted it to sound, just because we didn't really have the gear to do it. As we've evolved and got more gear it sounds more and more like how we want it to sound. Playing on stage has allowed, not only to improve our playing ability and our stage presence, but also to learn how to shape our sound.

For fans of bands like Wunderhorse, Smashing Pumpkins, and Title Fight, what do you think Dulakes bring to alternative rock in 2026 that feels distinctly your own?

I feel like we're a big mash up of genres. It sits within a kind of shoegaze alt rock post grunge kind of sound. I'd say the emphasis is on the actual songs rather than experimenting with instrumentation. Most of our parts do what they need for the song and not much else but I think there is a beauty in the simplicity of that. I'm not saying that our parts aren't good, but that's not what we put most of our importance on.

‘Soulless’ is released 27 March 2026.