“IT’S A VERY BITCHY ALBUM” | ROGER BACON ON NEW RECORD ‘JADED’

INTERVIEW | ROGER BACON by Olivia McCallum

Fresh off the release of their outstanding new album Jaded, Glasgow band Roger Bacon prove why they are truly one to keep an eye on amongst the rising stars from Scotland.

One of the most exciting album releases for 2026, Jaded captures the band’s very distinctive, loud and punchy sound. Using an insane combination of pedals to create a sound that is nothing short of massive, you can definitely hear the influence of incredible bands such as The Smashing Pumpkins in the music.

Not too long ago, I had the chance to sit down with the band and discuss the making of the album, the creative process and reveal where they’re heading next. This is what I learned.

Although they describe themselves as post-punk, the band doesn’t care much for labels when it comes to genre and mostly wants the music to speak for itself.

“The fact that it’s quite a hard question to answer shows us that we’re not thinking too hard about it. As Jack said, it’s quite nice not to. You’re kind of thinking about the right things. You’re not really worrying about kind of where you’re fitting into, like kind of broader landscape, or worse the kind of historical landscape in terms of music.”

The band loves to experiment with other new sounds and techniques and don’t want to feel stuck in a box they can’t break out of. One of the tracks on the album, ‘P. Falcone‘, was especially experimental for them, taking a more narrative approach to songwriting than they are used to. The track has sound effects added to help further the narrative of the song, which I thought was incredibly clever.

The album overall has quite a cynical outlook on the way the world is going and the band loves to play with contrast.

“We wanted to keep it quite sort of contradictory; there was quite a lot of tension, and there were a lot of songs that, whether it’s kind of line by line, or from one song on to another, almost kind of undermine one another in terms of what they’re trying to say. And that was quite intentional.

It’s a very bitchy album.”

The album has been in the works for well over a year, and throughout that time the band has seen a number of line up changes. The survival of the album through all of that is honestly a testament to how great the work is.

The band’s very own Campbell was the one to mix and master the album. I feel this adds another layer to the careful construction of the album. Everything feels and sounds exactly as the artists intended, which I adore.

“I think we all love the process so much because we’re involved with it. It wasn’t you go into studio for a weekend and you don’t hear from them for like a month that you get two revisions and that’s it, you’re so kind of disconnected from the process of making music.

It was such an engaging process in the studio. We were so connected to it because from like the first kick of kick drum to like the final master. It was kind of all with us, it wasn’t sent off. That’s it, it’s just such a fun process.”

Roger Bacon has already started compiling ideas for another release andare incredibly eager to get back in the studio.

The album is out everywhere now and you can find it on all of your streaming services. Give it a listen here!