Photo by Joy Gansh]
“Bargaining isn’t tidy, and it doesn’t aim for closure. What emerges is a record that feels incredibly tender, like a fresh bruise. It’s a project shaped by emotional urgency rather than intention, and it trusts that process completely. Theo Bleak offers a document that embodies grief’s shiftiness; it's not a narrative to be resolved, but something you move through in pieces — old journal entries, cracked memories — revisiting the same thoughts from slightly different angles until they finally loosen their grip. It might not be the album Lynch planned to make, but seems like the one she needed to release.” - STEREOGUM
Today, Scottish indie artist Theo Bleak is excited to unveil Bargaining, a new collection of songs available everywhere now. Bargaining is a mixtape filled with heartfelt confessions, musings on grief, and desire for connection. Written throughout a transformative year in the raw songwriter’s life, in conversation with the journals of her late great uncle, Theo Bleak excavates every bad experience for the sake of her songs, documenting cathartic moments of pain and hope.
“A chronological mixtape of my year through the most intense stage of grief I experienced- bargaining. Coming to terms with change, which felt unsurpassable, deep love, and brutal honesty,” Theo Bleak explains. “My mixtape was recorded at each of the rawest, saddest moments. The creak of my studio chair was audible in some of the tracks where I sat down to reason with my life, my mistakes, and my choices.
I navigated the mess of my life over the last year, inspired by the complex philosophy hidden within simple sentiments, imparted through my late Great Uncle's journals. I read and annotated these, rich with his passion for cycling. These diaries begin in 1966, and although John died in the early 2000s, I could feel the friendship as though the veil was thin between the living and the dead. My best friend.”
LISTEN TO BARGAINING WATCH “FINEST WORK”
Last month, the mixtape was announced with “Megan in New York. The song premiered with an official music video, reflecting on a trip to New York that felt like the beginning of the end. “A song about the most damaging dynamics we can enter into driven by passion, emotion and connections void of any reasonable intellect,” explains Theo Bleak. “Inspired by the self-implosion of my life beginning in New York City, conversations with Megan, who accompanied me on that trip, and the reflections of a man who kept her frozen in time. It is the first single from my fourteen-song mixtape 'Bargaining' - each a song a painful step forward as I was stuck longest in the bargaining stage of grief.”
LISTEN TO “MEGAN IN NEW YORK” WATCH “MEGAN IN NEW YORK”
Earlier this year, Theo Bleak released her new EP, Bad Luck Is Two Yellow Flowers. The project captures Theo Bleak’s signature blend of haunting melodies, poetic lyricism, layered instrumentals, and emotive vocal delivery, displaying a push and pull between intellect and raw feeling.
Following the success of last year’s introspective single “You Said I’d Feel It All Again,” singles from the EP, “Said Like A Poet”, and “Peach Sky,” marked another chapter in Theo Bleak’s exploration of raw emotion and dreamlike soundscapes. “Said Like A Poet” serves as a perfect sign-off to the upcoming EP, a project built on themes of longing, superstition, and blurred friendship. “Peach Sky” captures the fleeting beauty of a single moment, blending wistful lyricism with the artist’s signature “goth waltz” guitar melodies and lush, layered vocals. The track delves into themes of change, longing, and the search for meaning.
“You Said I’d Feel It All Again” garnered widespread support internationally. The single was played on BBC Radio 1’s Future Artists, BBC Radio 2’s Unwinds and was also recognized by multiple Spotify editorial playlists such as New Music Friday in the USA, UK, Belgium, Sweden & Netherlands as well as Fresh Folk, All New Pop, and Next Gen Singer-Songwriters. Earlier this month, rising star Rachel Chinouriri played the track on her takeover of BBC Introducing on Radio 1. Bad Luck Is Two Yellow Flowers looks to have the same impact, adding to the young artist's impressive repertoire.
Earlier this year, Theo Bleak made her North American debut at New York’s New Colossus Festival and played various festivals across the United Kingdom, including Brighton’s famed The Great Escape Festival. Last month, she supported Eleni Drake in London and Manchester, before supporting Admiral Fallow in Glasgow. For more information on upcoming performances, see below.
THEO BLEAK LIVE 2025
JANUARY 1 - Edinburgh, UK - Winter Festival First Footing
FEBRUARY 5 - The Glad Cafe - Glasgow, UK | 
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