NCT 127 have announced their seventh full-length album 'BLINGY'•
Nieve Ella has announced her debut album 'How Long Will It Take?'•
The Avalanches have reunited with Karen O for 'Blue Shadows'•
KATSEYE have released 'Animal' with a starring role for Demi Moore•
Babymorocco has introduced his next pop universe with 'Shmarmaladeharmonica'
•
Chloe Qisha has announced her new mixtape ‘Fantasize’ with ‘Baby Girl’•
Big Truck are poking fun at self-help culture on their new single 'Rebounder'•
Sofie Royer channels The Cribs on her new single 'Opium'•
Chelsea Wolfe has announced London show alongside her new album 'The Dark'•
Lizzy McAlpine is back with her new album 'Angel'•
Arca has announced her new album 'XXXXX' and an immersive livestream experience•
Keo have shared their soaring new single 'Pistol' from debut album 'Put A Smile On For Me'•
Carly Rae Jepsen's new single 'After All' arrives with a heartfelt video•
Caity Baser celebrates body confidence on her new single 'Flaunt It'•
deBasement's 'HARDBODY' EP arrives with Miss Bashful collaboration 'PRESS ON ME'•
Audrey Hobert has unveiled a new video for 'Sex and the City' as she begins her headline tour•
The Dork 2025 Readers' Poll nominations are in, featuring CMAT, Turnstile, Wolf Alice, Djo, Hayley Williams and loads more•
flowerovlove has released her first-ever first Christmas track, 'wishlist'•
Mighty Hoopla and Olly Alexander have announced Trans Mission, a concert for trans solidarity•
JADE has announced a deluxe edition of her debut album, 'THAT'S SHOWBIZ BABY! THE ENCORE'•
NCT 127 have announced their seventh full-length album 'BLINGY'•
Nieve Ella has announced her debut album 'How Long Will It Take?'•
The Avalanches have reunited with Karen O for 'Blue Shadows'•
KATSEYE have released 'Animal' with a starring role for Demi Moore•
Babymorocco has introduced his next pop universe with 'Shmarmaladeharmonica'•
Chloe Qisha has announced her new mixtape ‘Fantasize’ with ‘Baby Girl’•
Big Truck are poking fun at self-help culture on their new single 'Rebounder'•
Sofie Royer channels The Cribs on her new single 'Opium'•
Chelsea Wolfe has announced London show alongside her new album 'The Dark'•
Lizzy McAlpine is back with her new album 'Angel'•
Arca has announced her new album 'XXXXX' and an immersive livestream experience•
Keo have shared their soaring new single 'Pistol' from debut album 'Put A Smile On For Me'•
Carly Rae Jepsen's new single 'After All' arrives with a heartfelt video•
Caity Baser celebrates body confidence on her new single 'Flaunt It'•
deBasement's 'HARDBODY' EP arrives with Miss Bashful collaboration 'PRESS ON ME'•
Audrey Hobert has unveiled a new video for 'Sex and the City' as she begins her headline tour•
The Dork 2025 Readers' Poll nominations are in, featuring CMAT, Turnstile, Wolf Alice, Djo, Hayley Williams and loads more•
flowerovlove has released her first-ever first Christmas track, 'wishlist'•
Mighty Hoopla and Olly Alexander have announced Trans Mission, a concert for trans solidarity•
JADE has announced a deluxe edition of her debut album, 'THAT'S SHOWBIZ BABY! THE ENCORE'•
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DORK
LIFE built their own studio to make their most ambitious album yet
  1. Home
  2. Features
  3. LIFE
NCT 127 have announced their seventh full-length album 'BLINGY'•
Nieve Ella has announced her debut album 'How Long Will It Take?'•
The Avalanches have reunited with Karen O for 'Blue Shadows'•
KATSEYE have released 'Animal' with a starring role for Demi Moore•
Babymorocco has introduced his next pop universe with 'Shmarmaladeharmonica'•
Chloe Qisha has announced her new mixtape ‘Fantasize’ with ‘Baby Girl’•
Big Truck are poking fun at self-help culture on their new single 'Rebounder'•
Sofie Royer channels The Cribs on her new single 'Opium'•
Chelsea Wolfe has announced London show alongside her new album 'The Dark'•
Lizzy McAlpine is back with her new album 'Angel'•
Arca has announced her new album 'XXXXX' and an immersive livestream experience•
Keo have shared their soaring new single 'Pistol' from debut album 'Put A Smile On For Me'•
Carly Rae Jepsen's new single 'After All' arrives with a heartfelt video•
Caity Baser celebrates body confidence on her new single 'Flaunt It'•
deBasement's 'HARDBODY' EP arrives with Miss Bashful collaboration 'PRESS ON ME'•
Audrey Hobert has unveiled a new video for 'Sex and the City' as she begins her headline tour•
The Dork 2025 Readers' Poll nominations are in, featuring CMAT, Turnstile, Wolf Alice, Djo, Hayley Williams and loads more•
flowerovlove has released her first-ever first Christmas track, 'wishlist'•
Mighty Hoopla and Olly Alexander have announced Trans Mission, a concert for trans solidarity•
JADE has announced a deluxe edition of her debut album, 'THAT'S SHOWBIZ BABY! THE ENCORE'•
NCT 127 have announced their seventh full-length album 'BLINGY'•
Nieve Ella has announced her debut album 'How Long Will It Take?'•
The Avalanches have reunited with Karen O for 'Blue Shadows'•
KATSEYE have released 'Animal' with a starring role for Demi Moore•
Babymorocco has introduced his next pop universe with 'Shmarmaladeharmonica'•
Chloe Qisha has announced her new mixtape ‘Fantasize’ with ‘Baby Girl’•
Big Truck are poking fun at self-help culture on their new single 'Rebounder'•
Sofie Royer channels The Cribs on her new single 'Opium'•
Chelsea Wolfe has announced London show alongside her new album 'The Dark'•
Lizzy McAlpine is back with her new album 'Angel'•
Arca has announced her new album 'XXXXX' and an immersive livestream experience•
Keo have shared their soaring new single 'Pistol' from debut album 'Put A Smile On For Me'•
Carly Rae Jepsen's new single 'After All' arrives with a heartfelt video•
Caity Baser celebrates body confidence on her new single 'Flaunt It'•
deBasement's 'HARDBODY' EP arrives with Miss Bashful collaboration 'PRESS ON ME'•
Audrey Hobert has unveiled a new video for 'Sex and the City' as she begins her headline tour•
The Dork 2025 Readers' Poll nominations are in, featuring CMAT, Turnstile, Wolf Alice, Djo, Hayley Williams and loads more•
flowerovlove has released her first-ever first Christmas track, 'wishlist'•
Mighty Hoopla and Olly Alexander have announced Trans Mission, a concert for trans solidarity•
JADE has announced a deluxe edition of her debut album, 'THAT'S SHOWBIZ BABY! THE ENCORE'•
Dork
News
Features
Reviews
Magazine
Shop
Listings
Directory
Festivals
Hype-THE BEST NEW NAMES, FIRST
Upset-DORK'S HOME FOR ALL THINGS LOUD
Festival Guides-YOUR ESSENTIAL FESTIVAL COMPANION
Hype-THE BEST NEW NAMES, FIRST
Mixtape-DORK'S BEST NEW TRACKS
Play-DORK'S NEW MUSIC FRIDAY EDIT
Upset-DORK'S HOME FOR ALL THINGS LOUD
Playlist Covers
Playlist Directory
Recommender
Before Doors-LIVE SESSIONS
After Gates-FESTIVAL SESSIONS
Music Video Directory
Down With Boring-THE DORK PODCAST
Chart Attack-UK NUMBER ONES, DISSECTED
Dork Live
Dork Radio
Live
Live 24/7
Dork Radio

Four years after their last album, Hull's LIFE return with 'ABSTRACT / NATURAL' – a self-produced record created in a studio the band built themselves with the help of their local creative community.

WANDERING
FREE

LIFE built their own studio to make their most ambitious album yet
  1. Home
  2. Features
  3. LIFE

WANDERING FREE

Four years after their last album, Hull's LIFE return with 'ABSTRACT / NATURAL' – a self-produced record created in a studio the band built themselves with the help of their local creative community.

Written by
Jake Hawkes
Published
12 Jun 2026
Artists
LIFE
Photo credit
Luke Hallett

It’s been four long years since Hull-based noiseniks and Dork faves LIFE released an album. It’s been nearly five years since the last episode of the seminal, genre-defying Dork podcast Mez’s Sunday Lunch (No, nobody else remembers that?! – Ed). They’ve not just been sitting around and admiring the Humber since then; it’s just that with all of the band working full-time jobs alongside making music, these things take a while.

They probably take even longer when you want to record your fourth album in an entire studio you built yourself, but then LIFE have never been ones to break with their DIY spirit just to speed things along. “We thought we’d leave people wanting more and build some anticipation, but then when we came back, we realised nobody had really noticed!” says drummer Stew Baxter with a laugh. “No, we were just busy writing, really. Plus, we made the entire thing ourselves. We self-produced it, built our own studio by getting the community involved and did it from scratch with no money, no nothing. That’s a big achievement as far as we’re concerned.”

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If you’re reading this bit you’ve successfully discovered the area of the page that lives behind the paywall. Congratulations on your spirit of adventure. Sadly, this isn’t the article.

The actual feature – the one with the quotes, the opinions and the bits where something genuinely interesting happens – is sitting just the other side of the subscription gate like a perfectly normal article minding its own business.

Instead you’ve found this: a decoy paragraph. Its job is to stand here looking convincingly article-ish while giving absolutely nothing away. No cheeky preview, no accidental spoilers, no “maybe if I scroll a bit more the whole thing appears”. Afraid not.

This is simply a respectable block of words performing the digital equivalent of someone politely closing a door. The good news is the real piece hasn’t gone anywhere. It’s still right there, full of the proper stuff you came for.

All you have to do is subscribe and the entire situation resolves itself immediately, which – while perhaps less thrilling than attempting a small act of internet skulduggery – does have the advantage of working perfectly every time.

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Written by
Jake Hawkes
Artists
LIFE
Photo credit
Luke Hallett
LIKE THAT? READ THESE✦LIKE THAT? READ THESE✦LIKE THAT? READ THESE✦LIKE THAT? READ THESE✦
LIKE THAT? READ THESE✦LIKE THAT? READ THESE✦LIKE THAT? READ THESE✦LIKE THAT? READ THESE✦
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