Air Drawn Dagger have released their new single, Apparitions. The track features Tobi Duncan from Trash Boat and is taken from the debut album, A Guide For Apparitions, due 4 April 2025 via Long Branch Records.
“A return to big guitar riffs, it’s time to take accountability for the mess we’re in or accept our fate,” the band said of Apparitions. “On the other side of this song is an element of the hurt, and sometimes anger, you feel once you realize you’ve outgrown areas of your life and belief systems you held onto for so long.
“Relish in letting go of what no longer serves you. They’ll have to cross realms if they want to reach you. We brought in Tobi from Trash Boat because we knew this breakdown was the heaviest point of the album, the fight scene, the crescendo and required an extra element to complete this track.”
Signing to Long Branch Records, begin picked up by BBC Introducing and selling out last year’s show at The Leadmill has led to the band confirming their biggest show to date in their hometown of Sheffield at Corporation on 5 April 2025. With a RADAR Festival date confirmed in July, this does more than suggest it will be a big year for Maisie Manterfield (Vocals), Lewis Budden (Guitar, Backing Vocals) and Ross Dore (Drums).
Apparitions follows the single Castle. “Castle’ is the song of protagonists, The Martyrs,” the band said. “It was inspired by a painting in Nottingham Castle depicting the night voting reform was shot down by the Duke in 1831. A mob set the whole castle on fire in protest.
“This video was an ambitious one for us. We wanted to create a world that felt bigger than ourselves whilst introducing you to as many characters as possible in less than four minutes.
“Opening with a cinematic drone shot of an on-foot chase, the entire video is full of immersive storytelling cut with frantic performance shots. By the end, we have witnessed how the chase came to be, the evolution of characters and even the death of a hero. The last shot eliminates any doubt that there will be a part 2 to this story.”
Air Drawn Dagger blend raw emotion and defiance into a sound that defies genre. Their name, taken from Macbeth, symbolises the chaos and emotional outbursts that fuel their music.
