Krooked Tongue has today released their new single titled ‘I Don’t Believe In Ghosts’, from their upcoming debut album ‘I Know A Place’, dropping April 24th, 2026 via Wipeout Music.
Taking that ever too touchy subject of death in this haunting and daunting song, Krooked Tongue face the fear of the unknown and all of the prerequisite assumptions and superstitions meant to scare and soothe us by fearing said unknown yet saying there is something after for our own self reassurance. But, do we really know? If you know, you know, but maybe let others find out for themselves.
And this is the strength of ‘I Don’t Believe In Ghosts’. Saying the quiet part out loud and doing so over music meant for the listener in all of us. This alone makes this quite a departure for Krooked Tongue, musically, and forces me to anticipate ‘I Know A Place’ even more. Completely out of left field, ‘I Don’t Believe In Ghosts’ shows us that some of the biggest messages come from the quietest of places.
About ‘I Know A Place’
Bristol’s rock trio Krooked Tongue return with ‘I Don’t Believe In Ghosts’ on December 5th 2025, the latest single to be taken from their debut studio album ‘I Know A Place’ which arrives on April 24th 2026 to limited edition vinyl.
The album’s previous singles saw support from Apple editorial’s ‘Breaking Hard Rock’ and ‘New In Rock’, New Noise Magazine, HEAVY Magazine, CLOUT, Fab UK, Bristol 24/7, Sirius XM, Total Rock, IDOBI, Primordial Radio and Boogaloo Radio, with ‘Nothing Ever Grows’ being used throughout the Bivol vs Beterbiev boxing fight on DAZN Sports and ‘Let ‘Em Loose’ being used to soundtrack Progress Wrestling’s live show at London’s Electric Ballroom.
Recorded and produced with long-time producer Josh Gallop (Sergeant Thunderhoof, Mother Vulture, Phoxjaw) at Stage 2 Studios in Bath, ‘I Don’t Believe In Ghosts’ is unlike anything Krooked Tongue have written before, displaying a fragility not seen in any of their previous works. Delicate, emotive piano keys wrap around Oli Rainsford’s uncharacteristically gentle vocals, lyrically exploring the process of grieving a loved one.
On the single, vocalist and lyricist Oli Rainsford explains, “‘I Don’t Believe in Ghosts’ holds the chalice of uncertainty with the tender grip of an exhausted hand. It’s a song that tries its best to pry open the syntax of death, to make sense of it, but knows there’s no way to categorise or organise our emotions when it comes to losing someone. The idea of ‘ghosts’ or ‘the paranormal’ is one we all know and by the most part reject. I don’t buy into any of that stuff, but ‘I Don’t Believe in Ghosts’ acts as a sort of proverbial notepad. A place to whisper your thoughts out into the open and feel as The song was originally written on piano, as it is on the record, a couple of years ago as part of my Masters dissertation. When it came to start planning our debut album, it just seemed too authentic a song for it to not be included in our first full body of work. It was important for us to keep it authentic.
It would’ve been easy to slap on a bunch of extra stuff, but the song’s strength, we agreed, is in its solemn tone. The artwork for the song was inspired by the visualisation of grief in the film ‘A Ghost Story’. Something about the crudeness of a classic bed sheet ghost adds to the childlike innocence in keeping with the lack of knowing, when it comes to death. I thought the way that movie embraced the silence and space was really captivating, and it had a clear influence in the writing and performing of the song. Death is a weird thing to write about, it’s something so familiar to everyone and yet so alien because it relies on personal experiences. One of the most beautiful things about music is that it often bridges that gap. We want to dedicate this song to everyone who has lost someone, and to everyone who has carried the torch as life hurtles onward. Time heals all. Don’t be a ghost. Stay human.”
About Krooked Tongue
Krooked Tongue burst onto the scene with the release of their critically acclaimed debut EP ‘No Vacancy Hotel’ in February of 2022, recorded with Josh Gallop (Phoxjaw, Mother Vulture) at Stage 2 Studios. The EP has since amassed over 250,000 streams and saw support from publications such as Ones To Watch, HardBeat Magazine and Distorted Sound.
Their second studio EP ‘Deathproof’, released May 2023, saw the start of the band’s evolution, there was a refreshed maturity to their songwriting and an evident progression in their sound. ‘Deathproof’ has been streamed over 350,000 times to date and was celebrated by Louder Than War Radio, Ones To Watch, Sirius XM, BBC Introducing and many others.
August 2024 saw their biggest support tour to date, supporting Kid Brunswick on his final ‘Dead Forever’ tour across the UK. They’ve also shared the stage with False Heads, Virgin Marys, Phoxjaw, Pulled Apart By Horses, The Soap Girls and Mother Vulture and have played slots at festivals such as Icebreaker, Dot to Dot, The Godney Gathering, Estonia’s Tallinn Music Week and Burn It Down. March 2026 sees the band head to the United States for the first time for New York City’s New Colossus Festival.
With interest in the band quickly growing, Krooked Tongue recently signed a publishing deal with Wipeout Music, and have also joined TRUST Artists’ live roster and hope to continue to cement themselves as an emerging band to watch in the UK.
LINKS:
https://krookedtongue.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/Krookedtongue
https://x.com/krooked_tongue
https://www.instagram.com/krookedtongue
