For a band tempted to start over entirely, walt disco’s new music doesn’t erase the past: it turns it into art worth living. Rather than a rebirth, the band’s next era is something harder won: a continuation, sharpened by doubt, grounded in their evolving personal identities, and driven by the belief that they can still become exactly what they were chasing all along – a generation-defining band who dared to do something unique. It made no sense for a group so enviably young to be worrying about longevity – but that was the situation walt disco found themselves in. Their debut album, Unlearning, was released in 2022, scoring enormous buzz and award nominations (including Best Independent Album at the AIM Awards). Touring took them from the likes of Glastonbury and SXSW to support slots in arenas around the world, alongside cultural co-signs from Charles Jeffrey and Louboutin. Yet looking back on 2024’s second album, The Warping – which still earned a second nomination for Scottish Album of the Year – walt disco felt as if they’d lost momentum, and were at a crossroads in their lives and careers. Separately and collectively, uncertainty surrounded walt disco to the extent that they even considered changing their name altogether. The impulse for a clean slate was particularly understandable for Jocelyn, who started HRT at the start of the year and wanted to begin again. “We were all convinced by the idea of that fresh start,” offers drummer Jack Martin. Ultimately, though, they decided to keep walt disco. “It was particularly hard for me I think,” adds Jocelyn, “because that thought had helped me come out to my mum as a jumping off point. You know, ‘a few things in my life are changing…’.” The irony of ending up with a self-titled album, using a name they almost walked away from, is not lost on any of them.
