Best of Budapest & Hungary

IST IST are returning to Budapest with their new album: the Manchester post-punk band will release their brand-new full-length record Dagger on February 6, and alongside the album announcement they have also unveiled their upcoming spring UK and European tour. IST IST will present the new album to their Hungarian fans on March 19 at Dürer Kert.

    Dagger will be the band’s fifth studio album, following Light A Bigger Fire, their highly praised 2024 release that received considerable acclaim from critics. The new record will be supported by a 24-date UK and European tour. IST IST also showcased their previous material in Hungary, and after wrapping up the tour they wasted no time:
“As soon as we got back from the late-2024 European tour, we immediately started working on the album. The momentum you bring home from touring is huge: you’re still in concert mode, so the music written at times like this is usually far more visceral. You go with the flow, you’re less methodical. The result is a collection of songs that are already ready for the stage.”

    IST IST entered the next chapter with big ambitions and turned to renowned producer Joe Cross (Hurts, Courteeners, Slow Readers Club) to help bring their vision to life. The chemistry developed during their earlier collaboration quickly reignited, and something special began to take shape. Bassist Andy Keating recalls:
“We wanted to make bolder, louder decisions during the recordings. We mainly wanted to make this record for ourselves. We had no other goal than to capture that post-tour energy and play the kind of music we ourselves love listening to. The result is our most direct album since our debut, Architecture.”

    The lead single and opening track of the album, I Am The Fear, perfectly exemplifies this new direction: an electrically charged monster built on pulsing synths, roaming basslines, and layered guitars. While the core of IST IST’s dark, distinctive sound remains, the 10-track album introduces a wealth of new influences and inspirations, redefining the band’s boundaries.

    Although Dagger marks another monumental step forward for the band in terms of confidence, control, and execution, fans can rest assured: none of this required abandoning their core principles. Entirely self-funded and released independently through their own label, Kind Violence Records, the new album continues to embody the DIY ethos that has been part of the band’s DNA from day one—even after five records.

    Tickets for the concert go on sale November 21 at 10 AM on the websites of Live Nation and Funcode.