Gilla Band detail first new album in four years, Pugnello

Pugnello is set to be the band's first release since their 2022 album Most Normal. In the four-year period between releases, each member has focused on their own artistic projects, with vocalist Dara Kiely developing a love for painting, guitarist Alan Duggan Borges launched his solo project, Null Club, bassist Daniel Fox produced for acts including producer for acts including Sprints, Lambrini Girls and Mandy, Indiana, and drummer Adam Faulkner playing on the road with Lankum.

Today, Gilla Band return with "Placeholder", following "Giraffe" released in May. Speaking about the new song, Kiely explains: “In this track I try to analyse my mental quirks by exploring my comfort distractions. Reverting back to childhood nostalgia – as an escape. The memories seeping into my day-to-day adult life. Representing personal mental health behaviours via outdated pop culture such as the anxious tension set by Davina McCall’s silence when announcing a Big Brother eviction, or the fight or flight that Harold Lloyd surely experienced when holding on to a clock for dear life, and all for our entertainment.

"I mention Power Rangers at the end of this. It was another comfort vice. They were a huge thing for me as a child. I remember I was at some sort of Christian summer camp when I was about 6 and was asked what I want to be when I grow up. I said 'a Power Ranger'. I was laughed at and was told the shocking truth that they didn’t exist and it is not a profession worth pursuing. I’ve never forgiven them for that."

Pugnello was recorded from 2022 to 2026 across three Dublin studios – Hellfire, Yellow Door Music Studio, and Sonic Studios – produced by the band and recorded and mixed by Fox. The band have also announced two intimate UK shows in October following the album's release: one at London's ICA where they'll perform in the round, and Manchester's iconic White Hotel ahead of its closure in January.

Pugnello artwork

Pugnello tracklist

"The Angelus"
"Placeholder"
"Alogia"
"Three Hands Clapping"
"Jacobsons"
"The Megazord"
"Computer Sadness"
"Giraffe"
"Crisp Pop"
"The Gallop"