Mould – Hoping As A Coping Mechanism
Release Date: 24th July 2026
Label: 5B Records
Hailing from Bristol, Mould are a three piece band who have made their mark on the independent music scene over the last year with stellar singles and impressive live shows, including an appearance at this year’s Download Festival. However, after all the grafting, Mould have to now prove themselves artistically with their debut studio album Hoping as a Coping Mechanism.
As soon you press play, the album makes its intentions loud and clear. The opener ‘Misanthrope’ is moody yet aggressive, throwing listeners straight into the deep end, setting the tone flawlessly in the process. That pent up aggression flows directly into the next few tracks ‘Float’ and ‘Emotive Language’ where the intensity and relentlessness is balanced with a sense of brooding and deliberate uncertainty.
It’s clear throughout the album that Mould are a band that won’t settle for just one or two ideas within a given song. Whereas other bands are good at either dragging a riff out or evolving a verse over the course of a song, Mould instead are keen to take anything they can think of and throw it at the wall to see what sticks. Some albums can be scatterbrained in an unfocused way, leading to a product that feels unfinished. Hoping as a Coping Mechanism is a different beast, as it revels in constant curiosity both sonically and lyrically. The fact that it doesn’t want to sit still is one of the album’s most valuable qualities.
This jumbled approach to songwriting is only accentuated by the vocals courtesy of guitarist Joe Sherrin and bassist Kane Eagle. Whether they’re carrying songs on their own or singing together, they both aim for an almost deranged delivery that adds an extra level of uniqueness to the band’s sound. Nowhere is that better exemplified than on the track ‘Lucid’ where vocals range from harmonious to unsure and even downright angry.
The second half of the tracklist is where Mould’s approach is really tested and pushed to the limit. You have ‘Superseded’ with its 2000s indie rock style chord progression, ‘Decades’ which strips things back for a bit and ‘Falling Posture’ that is one of a few tracks that borrows heavily from math rock sensibilities.
The closing track, ‘Humm’, is where everything comes full circle as it fully embraces the same chaotic aggression as the opener, nicely bookending the whole project. These two tracks in particular, along with a few specific moments here and there, lean into a rough and raw creativeness that is only comparable to the likes of early Biffy Clyro or even Nirvana at their prime. The unpolished, grittiness found in grunge or garage rock mixed with styles and time signatures that wouldn’t normally be found in those genres.
Hoping as a Coping Mechanism is a strange yet investing album that ambitiously jumps between ideas on a dime to create something wholly refreshing. It’s abrasive, thought provoking and endlessly entertaining in equal measures resulting in one of the best debut albums 2026 has given us so far.