The Wave Pictures announce new album "Gained / Lost" out 27th February via Bella Union || Share first single "Alice" || UK live dates
The Wave Pictures today announce their new album Gained / Lost due out 27th February 2026 via Bella Union and available to preorder here. Via classic songwriting and virtuoso musicianship, Gained / Lost brings together 60s garage rock, 70s classic rock and 90s American indie with the DIY spirit that has guided the band for nearly three decades. To accompany today’s announcement The Wave Pictures have shared first single and album opener “Alice”, a swooning beauty inspired by the writings of William Burroughs. Watch the video HERE.
Commenting on “Alice” The Wave Pictures say: “This song was influenced by the book ‘My Education: A Book Of Dreams’ by William Burroughs, which is a kind of dream journal, but written in clean, almost hardboiled prose. Alice takes place in a dreamworld. Burroughs might have called this world The Land of the Dead. There is a promise of ice cream in a world between life and death, a kind of holding station. Everybody’s spirit returns to the universe. If this was a movie it would be directed by David Lynch, and it would be black and white. Musically, the song has the kind of open-hearted optimism of a Daniel Johnston or Buddy Holly. There’s a multicoloured joy to the music, and a black and white strangeness to the lyrics.”
Additionally, The Wave Pictures have announced news of a UK tour in February and March 2026 to follow their Christmas Extravaganza London show next month. All live dates are listed below.
Throughout Gained / Lost, David Tattersall (guitar and lead vocals), Franic Rozycki (bass), and Jonny Helm (drums) capture the joy of playing together—a chemistry that has cemented The Wave Pictures’ status as one of Britain’s most enduring cult bands.
Tattersall’s lyrics arrive like postcards from the space where memories fragment and dreams fill the cracks—reflecting the self as a child, as an elder, and as an observer from a neighbour’s window. Lyrics float over the guitars and drums like figures in the sky in a Chagall painting. The Wave Pictures always give the mundane its magical due.
The front cover, created by Tattersall, is a tribute to Robert Frank’s front cover for Exile On Main Street. Images of childhood combine with recent photos of the band and many other figures, from old horror movie posters to former footballers. Everything in their world gets funnelled into The Wave Pictures music.
The album opens with the aforementioned Burroughs-inspired dreamscape of “Alice.” “Sure and Steady’’ is like Lou Reed if he’d grown up in the East Midlands. ‘’Past The House Painted Blue’’ is like a painting by Matisse. ‘’You’re My Patient Now,’’ a mixture of Raymond Chandler and Link Wray. The songs themselves—full of poetry and joy—are the album’s defining strength.
Like its predecessor, Gained / Lost was recorded by Jim Riley at Rochester’s Ranscombe Studios over seven days. Riley, who has worked with the band on multiple projects including Great Big Flamingo Burning Moon and Bamboo Diner in the Rain, captures The Wave Pictures live and unfiltered—the way they prefer to record. Throughout the album, David Tattersall’s guitar playing is inventive, melodic, emotional and virtuosic. His playing at times is as lyrical as Jerry Garcia, at others spikey and spindly like Tom Verlaine, but always emotional and on point for the song. No wonder Marc Riley describes David Tattersall as “The greatest guitarist of his generation.’’
Gained / Lost sets a new standard: a distillation of spirit, craft, and joy. The album will be available now vinyl, CD, and digital formats.
The Wave Pictures live dates:
20th December – London – The Lexington (Christmas Extravaganza)
25th February - Leeds - Brudenell Social Club
26th February - Newcastle - Cluny 2
27th February - Glasgow - Stereo
28th February - Nottingham - Old Cold Store
1st March - Oxford - Jericho Tavern
3rd March - Bristol - Strange Brew
4th March - Cardiff - Clwb Ifor Bach
5th March - Manchester - YES
6th March - Brighton – Dust
1. Alice
2. Sure & Steady
3. The House Painted Blue
4. You’re My Patient Now
5. Sparklers
6. Gained Lost
7. Faded Wave Pictures T-Shirt
8. Samuel
9. The Past Comes Back To Haunt Me
10. Orange Fire
11. Worry Anymore
