"Whiplash" is slated for release on October 18.
With over 1 billion streams across their catalog, UK alt-rock trio bôa is ready for their triumphant return with Whiplash, their first new album in over twenty years. Produced by Chris Zane (Jack Antonoff, Passion Pit, St. Lucia), Whiplash is slated for release on October 18. The news comes with the release of the album’s title track and an accompanying video.
Since bôa’s 1998 cult favorite “Duvet” resurfaced on TikTok, the song has soundtracked nearly 300,000 videos and gathered over 688 streams on Spotify. Its resurgence with a new generation of fans inspired bôa to come back together to write and record new music with a renewed sense of passion. They first introduced this new body of work with the soaring “Walk With Me,” followed by the celestial “Beautiful & Broken,” and the bluesy “Worry.”
The album’s title is multifaceted, referencing the band’s personal highs and lows, as well as our collective cultural unrest. By tackling universal sentiments of pain, solitude, and triumph, Whiplash immediately transcends any generational divide, making bôa feel perpetually fresh.
Jasmine shares, "From the first moment in the rehearsal room, we were writing again. Al and I would come up with riffs, and we’d all sketch out a song and build layers. During the songwriting period, I went from being in a loving relationship to having a breakup with someone very important to me. When that happens, you review everything, regret everything, and finally accept it, hopefully accepting yourself again.
Some of the lyrics relate to that, some look at things I’m passionate about – the way I look at the world, how even now I don’t fit in, the way things could be. The song ‘Whiplash’ could be about break ups, but could also be the crazy ride Lee, Al, and I have been on through bôa.”
On the title track, newer fans will recognize the timeless warmth that has made “Duvet” an enduring hit, while decades-long fans will feel like they’re welcoming an old friend back into the fold. Drawing on the raw, guitar-led sounds that first inspired the band, “Whiplash” delivers hypnotic riffs and emotive lyricism, led by frontwoman Jasmine Rodgers’ musings on existing with both the good and the bad and accepting people as they are.
Additionally, bôa has sold-out their first-ever North American headline tour, starting on September 11 with stops in Los Angeles at The Fonda, Brooklyn at Warsaw (2 nights), Chicago at Thalia Hall, and more, with support from Rocket and Sea Lemon – see full routing below. Following the North American run, the band will return to their homeland for another sold-out UK/EU tour starting on October 17.
bôa is Jasmine Rodgers (lead vocals/guitar), Alex Caird (bass), and Lee Sullivan (drums). Stay tuned for more music and news from bôa.
1. Let Me Go
2. Crawling
3. Walk With Me
5. Prelude
6. Frozen
7. Vienna
8. Worry
9. Whiplash
10. Strange Few
11. Seafarer
12. I Don’t Know
13. Shadow
NORTH AMERICA
*w/Rocket
^w/Sea Lemon
September 11 - Voodoo Room - San Diego* - SOLD OUT
September 13 - The Fonda - Los Angeles* - SOLD OUT
September 14 - August Hall - San Francisco* - SOLD OUT
September 17 - Wonder Ballroom - Portland^ - SOLD OUT
September 18 - Neumos - Seattle^ - SOLD OUT
September 20 - Thalia Hall - Chicago* - SOLD OUT
September 23 - Horseshow Tavern - Toronto* - SOLD OUT
September 25 - Warsaw - New York City* - SOLD OUT
September 26 - Warsaw - New York City* SOLD OUT
September 27 - The Sinclair - Boston* - SOLD OUT
September 28 - The Foundry - Philadelphia* - SOLD OUT
September 29 - The Atlantis - Washington D.C.* - SOLD OUT
U.K./IRELAND
October 17 - Thekla - Bristol - SOLD OUT
October 18 - 02 Institute - Birmingham - SOLD OUT
October 19 - The Bodega - Nottingham - SOLD OUT
October 20 - King Tut’s - Glasgow - SOLD OUT
October 22 - Band On The Wall - Manchester - SOLD OUT
October 23 - Brudnell Social Club - Leeds - SOLD OUT
October 25 - Whelan’s - Dublin - SOLD OUT
October 27 - CHALK - Brighton - LOW TICKETS
October 29 - HERE at Outernet - London - LOW TICKETS
Photo Credit: Angela Ricciardi
Videos