Pendulum return with ‘Save The Cat’ from first album in 15 years ‘Inertia’ – featuring Bullet For My Valentine, Wargasm, AWOLNATION, Scarlxrd and more 

Pendulum have announced ‘Inertia’, their first album in 15 years. Check out lead single ‘Save The Cat’ below.

• READ MORE: Pendulum drop two new songs and tell us about returning after a decade

The new record comes on the heels of multiple arena shows and festival dates throughout last year, and marks their first record since 2010’s ‘Immersion’. It comprises 16 tracks and is out on August 22 via Mushroom Music – visit here to pre-order.

Produced by frontman Rob Swire and Owen Charles and recorded at Pendulum’s London Studio, the album is described as Pendulum’s most personal release to date. It also comes with a number of star-studded collaborations, featuring the likes of Bullet For My Valentine, Wargasm, AWOLNATION, Scarlxrd, Joey Valance & Brae and Hybrid Minds across the album’s tracklist.

Today (May 27), the band have shared a new preview of the album with lead single ‘Save The Cat’. According to a new description, the screamo anthem came in the wake of two breakups, one that unravelled slowly over time, and another that hit without warning.

“It was written during a period of self-questioning and frustration,” the frontman explained. “Love felt like something I didn’t fully trust myself with anymore.” Check it out below.

As for the album as a whole, work on the new music began back in 2020 when Swire began contemplating a new chapter for the band. The direction took shape following 2021’s ‘Elemental’ and 2023’s ‘Anima’ EPs, which the band described as the blueprint for their upcoming era.

“I was basically testing how far we could push Pendulum,” the frontman said. “Seeing what we could get away with. I always looked at The Prodigy as the benchmark. They started out as pure rave – breakbeat, hardcore – but they evolved. They became their own sound. You don’t even really associate them with breakbeat anymore. They just are The Prodigy.”

“It’s the sound of Pendulum finding themselves again, and me figuring myself out to a certain extent,” he added. “Breakups do that – they strip things down and show you who you are. I’m just trying not to become the guy who needs to go through one just to make a record.”

Check out the album artwork and tracklist below.

The ‘Inertia’ tracklist is:

1. ‘Driver’
2. ‘Come Alive’
3. ‘Save The Cat’
4. ‘Archangel’
5. ‘Nothing For Free’
6. ‘Cannibal (ft. Wargasm)’
7. ‘Constellations’
8. ‘Halo (ft. Bullet For My Valentine)’
9. ‘Louder Than Words (ft. Hybrid Minds)’
10. ‘Napalm (ft. Joey Valence & Brae)’
11. ‘The endless Gaze’
12. ‘Guiding Lights (ft. AWOLNATION)’
13. ‘Colourfast’
14. ‘Silent Spinner’
15. ‘Mercy Killing (ft. Scarlxrd)’
16.  ‘Cartagena’

Later this week, Pendulum will perform at Dreamland in Margate, before playing three shows in June. These include a slot in Plymouth on June 13, a gig at The Piece Hall in Halifax on June 14, and a stop at the Open Air Theatre in Scarborough on June 20.

In August they will play at The National Bowl in Milton Keynes too. Visit here for tickets to all upcoming shows.

Last year, Pendulum’s set was named one of NME’s Most Magical Moments of Reading & Leeds 2024. Shortly before their set, Swire spoke to NME about their single ‘Napalm’, which featured Joey Valance and Brae and appears on the LP.

“I want to take it much heavier,” he said, hinting at future plans. “I know drum ‘n’ bass is having a moment again and we keep getting every Tom, Dick and Harry across our entire work team being like, ‘You guys have to get in on this and start making some DnB that fits in Hedex’s set’, but it’s just the last thing I want to fucking do.

“I feel most comfortable when we’re in between worlds. As soon as it goes too metal or too DnB, then I start to feel weird about it. The middle of that ground is the perfect zone for us. I want to take it much heavier if we can.”

Back in 2020, Swire also told NME about what it was like to make a comeback after disbanding in 2012, and how it felt to be making new material.

“It’s not an easy thing to go away for 10 years and then say, ‘Here’s what we sound like now!’,” he said at the time. “People assume that we’ve been working on stuff for 10 years. It’s hard for people to imagine what the progression might be, but we’re happy with it.”

“You don’t want to come back full-pop and have everyone like, ‘What the fuck happened?’ It’s just about remembering what your own sound is,” he added.

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