In the visuals for Swim Deep’s fifth album, ‘Hum’, the band struggle to plant a flag emblazoned with their original logo in the muddy soil of the rainy English countryside. “It looks like Band of Brothers or some kind of army faction planting the victory flag in the ground,” smiles keyboardist James Balmont. “We’ve been through this struggle together and work together, and now we’ve all come together to plant this very victorious feeling.”

Recorded over two weeks in August 2025 at Brussels’ ICP Studios with returning producer Bill Ryder-Jones, it’s the result of a creative purple patch for the band. That ideas-rich period, though, could only be unlocked after some turbulence. After wrapping up touring for 2024’s ‘There’s A Big Star Outside’, Swim Deep began to look to what was next. “We went straight back into the studio, picked our guitars up straight away,” recalls frontman Austin “Ozzy” Williams. “It was the first time that we weren’t having to reinvent ourselves, and there was so much power in that feeling and nothing drastically changed – and then Robbie [Wood, guitarist since 2018] quit.” Wood’s decision came shortly after the band toured the album Europe, no longer able to balance the commitments of his day job with the flexibility required to play the music he’d made with his friends.

Around the same time, frustrations between bandmates were high. After pouring a lot of emotion and energy into ‘There’s A Big Star Outside’, the monetary restraints and diminishing returns of being in an independent band in this era began to increase the pressure. The balancing act of adult responsibilities and fulfilling your creative passions had to be reckoned with; individual decisions made on whether it was an endeavour worth continuing. “It’s constantly a struggle being in this kind of band at this stage of your career,” acknowledges Balmont. “It’s something that you put so much work into, and it can be quite trying.”

Thankfully, Williams, Balmont, bassist Cavan McCarthy and drummer Thomas Fiquet are pushing forward, armed with their most beautiful, accomplished album yet, and a new recruit in their ranks. Formerly of Brighton indie-rockers Fur, guitarist J.J. Buchanan found his way to Swim Deep via shared shifts behind the bar at the London pub they both work at – a serendipitous convergence that would breathe new life into the band. “He turned out to be this amazing songwriter, and for the first time in my life, I was met with a songwriter in the band who was bringing in his own songs,” says Williams.

As Williams and Buchanan began writing together, the songs started pouring out of them – a factor behind the gap between ‘There’s A Big Star Outside’ and ‘Hum’ being the shortest between albums in Swim Deep’s history. New collaborative avenues opened up among all band members, and confidence reached new heights. Balmont points to the gorgeously unpredictable shuffle of ‘Such A Fool’ as evidence of this: “We were just quite freely trying so many different things – different time signatures, different genre styles; creativity that we’ve not always explored that much before.”

The feeling around the band and the music they were making reignited an aspirational streak in Williams not felt since he was 18, when he first put Swim Deep together in his hometown of Birmingham. “Me and JJ are going from making a song that we think could change the world to working behind the bar for minimum wage,” Williams says. “When we’re on a 10-hour shift, serving thousands of people, we give this knowing look to each other, like, ‘We’ve got to get out of here’. It’s that kind of passion I think has come across in the album.”

In many ways, ‘Hum’ is a sequel to the work Swim Deep started on ‘There’s A Big Star Outside’. They reunited with that album’s producer, Bill Ryder-Jones – who also joined the band as their touring guitarist across a series of intimate gigs in 2025 – and, instead of changing lanes as has been the band’s tendency between records in the past, allowed themselves to finesse and develop the sound they’d dug into on their fourth full-length release. ‘Broken’ – a track brought in by Buchanan that confronts the impact of his battle with addiction on a relationship – is timeless, emotional songwriting that knows when to hold back, while ‘Pieces Of You’ glistens and roars, clouds of distortion bringing a bite and rawness to its chiming melodies. There are bright, surging songs that sweep you up and away (‘You, Me & Mary’, ‘In Dreams Alive’), grungier moments like the emphatic thump of ‘Mud’, and softer, more tender takes (‘Lift Me Up’, ‘Photograph’). It all feels inherently like a Swim Deep record, but naturally more refined and enhanced.

Thematically, too, it continues the life journey of ‘There’s A Big Star Outside’, which captured a transformational period for Williams – preparing for the arrival of his first child, but also the departure of his wife’s father. The songs on ‘Hum’ detail the aftermath of that spell, exploring loss, family and our responsibilities to those we build a life with. The latter bears a lot of weight on this record, with Williams keen to frame things positively for his daughter. “I’ve now got someone to inspire,” he explains. “It’s like, ‘Yeah, your dad works at a bar to make rent, but this is what he actually does, this is what the dream is, and we’ll all live on it together. That’s the ethos on this album.” That his dream can take the band as far afield as Thailand and China – as it did in late 2025 – and be greeted by passionate audiences singing back songs old and new is that idea in action; something that could galvanise anyone, not just flesh and blood.

Dreams have long given Williams – and, by extension, Swim Deep – his drive, and 15 years on from the band’s formation, that hasn’t changed. ‘Hum’, the band hope, will help keep the dream alive for others like them, too. “The underdog story is so romanticised, and I’ve always loved it, but when you are the underdog, it’s a whole different kettle of fish,” Williams says. “But we want to show people that if you work hard, believe in it and are good at it, then something will come from it. I want Swim Deep to be a powerful story where five friends come together to better their lives through music.”