GoGo Penguin announce new album 'Necessary Fictions' due out June 20

GOGO PENGUIN ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM  NECESSARY FICTIONS  DUE OUT JUNE 20 VIA XXIM/ SONY  NEW SINGLE + VIDEO “FALLOWFIELD LOOPS”   PAYS HOMAGE TO TOAST RACK BUILDING IN MANCHESTER, UK  LISTEN // WATCH VIDEO

NEW ALBUM FINDS GOGO PENGUIN STRONGER THAN EVER:  BACK TO THEIR DANCE-RAVE ROOTS, HITTING GROOVE WITH NEW DRUMMER & COLLABORATING WITH MANCHESTER COLLECTIVE + BRITISH-UGANDAN ARTIST DAUDI MATSIKO   U.S. TOUR DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED NEXT WEEK

Photo Credit: Mark Gregson | Jon Scott, Nick Blacka, Chris Illingworth

“‘NECESSARY FICTIONS’ is about shedding the mask and showing who we truly are — as people, as musicians, as a band.” — GoGo Penguin “It’s almost impossible to categorize them.” – Stereogum “This prolific U.K. piano/bass/drums trio has always been rooted in an adventurous jazz sound, but the arrival of new stickman Jon Scott has pushed its latest music to different and exciting places… Beyond the music itself, any group with the balls to haul a grand piano into rock clubs on a nightly basis… is surely worth your time and attention.” – SPIN  “Manchester’s GoGo Penguin almost broke up—but to the world’s relief, they’ve only come out stronger following their near-end.” – FLOOD

April 17, 2025 – Today, GoGo Penguin, the Manchester trio known for their blend of jazz, classical and electronic influences since forming in 2012, announce their seventh studio album NECESSARY FICTIONS due out June 20. It’s a bold new chapter in the band’s evolution and represents a deep dive into identity, authenticity, and transformation.  Alongside the announcement is the first single “Fallowfield Loops,” a punchy, melancholic, and danceable tribute to their hometown. The accompanying video — directed by pianist Chris Illingworth and bassist Nick Blacka — features evocative visuals of Manchester’s iconic Toast Rack building, the brutalist landmark seen on the album’s cover, and serves as a visual extension of the track’s mood: stark, nostalgic, and full of movement. GoGo Penguin’s last album Everything Is Going to Be OK (2023) found the band reeling from almost breaking up, a new drummer in the form of Jon Scott (formerly of Mulatu Atsake’s band), coping with the death of family members, grief, the pandemic, and finding solace in the studio as they journeyed through uncertainty, survival and ultimately, resilience.  With NECESSARY FICTIONS, GoGo Penguin — Chris Illingworth (piano, synths), Nick Blacka (bass, synths), and Jon Scott (drums) — have embraced new textures and ideas more fully than ever before. They are operating from a place of confidence, having truly found their groove with Scott, and Illingworth and Blacka both in their fifth decade, and truly embracing who they are without fear. The album sees them expanding their signature sound, drawing deeper into modular synths, and, for the first time, welcoming other voices into their sonic world. “This is what we want to make right now, and it feels authentic,” says Blacka. NECESSARY FICTIONS is the sound of a band unafraid to reflect who they are — not just in sound, but in spirit and surroundings.