Shelf Lives - hypernormaL

London electro-bass punk agitators Shelf Lives today release their long-awaited debut album hypernormaL, a blistering 11-track statement that captures the duo at their most uncompromising, self-aware, and disturbingly danceable.

Produced by imdead and released on the band’s own Not Sorry Mom Records, the album sees Shelf Lives once again redefining the boundaries of modern punk and electronic music — pushing glitchy beats, razor-sharp guitars, and confrontational lyricism into thrilling new territory. Just when you think you’ve figured them out, Shelf Lives grin, twist the dial, and push the needle into the red.  

The album sees the band collaborating with an enviable list of who’s who, from Danio (Fred Again, Joy Anonymous, Jelani Blackman) on 60K, to writing with Pat Alvarez (Blessed Madonna, Joy Crookes, Good Neighbours) and Lola Sam from Hot Wax playing bass on ‘like heR’.  ‘hypernormaL’ was mixed by Matteo Buccomino (Joy Anonymous, EFÉ) & mastered by Stefan Brown at the legendary Abbey Road Studios.

“Beneath all the noise, ‘hypernormaL’  is our attempt at trying to feel real again,” the band say about the forthcoming album. “It’s our way of asking, ‘what does it mean to be human when everything around you is pretending to be?’. We’re trying to stay sane in a culture that is overexposed, exploitative, and performative. There is a focus on wanting to be seen and wanting to disappear, on rage and resignation. ‘hypernormaL’ isn’t a concept album—it’s what happens when you write music in a world that’s falling apart, and everyone calls it content. We are all normies now. Kiss the frog.”