Basht. announce debut album with lead single ‘Perfume’
‘Poor Advice’ will be released on 9th October via LAB Records.
Photo: Polocho
Having already grown a cult-like following through word-of-mouth buzz and tours with the likes of DEADLETTER, Everything Everything and Wunderhorse, Dublin’s Basht. have revealed that their debut album, Poor Advice, will be released on 9th October via LAB Records.
Accompanying the announcement comes the record’s lead single, Perfume. Produced by Ali Chant (Dry Cleaning, PJ Harvey), its dark, foreboding nature mirrors the track’s reflective and emotionally heavy subject matter.
Exploring the relationship between father and son, the song is framed through the son’s retelling of his parents’ marriage falling apart, with underlying ties to the strong influence of the Catholic Church in Ireland. As vocalist and guitarist Jack Leavey explained: “Ireland also has a darker history, shaped by the strong influence of the Catholic Church over private life, particularly in cases of unplanned pregnancy, where young couples were often pressured into marriage to preserve respectability and avoid shame.
“These unions were not always based on love or readiness, but on moral expectation and social control, with alternatives like single parenthood heavily stigmatised, especially for women. This song reflects that reality, capturing how personal lives were shaped by external pressures, where duty could outweigh desire and a single moment could determine the course of an entire future.”
Expanding on the themes of the band’s forthcoming debut album, he said: “Poor Advice is a bruising concept album that traces the tangled wires between power and those crushed under it.
“Through ten tracks, it maps the old dance between church and state in Ireland, where pulpits and governments traded sermons for policy and shaped a generation with guilt, silence, and obedience.
“It then pulls that thread into the present, following how moral authority has been outsourced to boardrooms and barracks, with the military industrial complex running like a grim metronome: conflict brewed, weapons sold, grief managed, contracts renewed.
“Poor Advice is the title because it’s all the counsel handed down from above: keep your head down, say your prayers, trust the deal.”
Poor Advice is out October 9th via LAB Records. Pre-save and pre-order Poor Advice here.