mary in the junkyard Bulks Up on Brilliant New Single ‘New Muscles’

The South London art-rock wave is producing some of the most exciting guitar music on the planet right now, and mary in the junkyard are sitting right at the front of the pack. The trio has just shared “New Muscles” a wonderfully off-kilter, infectious slice of art-pop that serves as the third taste of their highly anticipated debut album, Role Model Hermit, dropping July 3 via AMF Records.

Where their previous singles “Crash Landing” and “Candelabra” leaned into atmospheric tension and raw, angsty indie rock, “New Muscles” shifts the band into an entirely different gear. It’s playful, rhythmic, and fiercely confident.

From Accordion Demos to Gym Motivation

The origin story of “New Muscles” is just as unique as the track itself. According to frontwoman Clari Freeman-Taylor, bassist/violist Saya Barbaglia, and drummer David Addison, the song’s complex, bouncing melody was actually originally written on an accordion.

As for the lyrical inspiration? The band openly admits it was written simply about David joining a local gym.

That lighthearted energy translates into a track bursting with creative production choices, courtesy of producers Oli Bayston and Ben Baptie. Clattering auxiliary percussion and propulsive bass lines anchor the rhythm, while eerie, wordless vocal harmonies soar over the top like a twisted superhero theme song. Freeman-Taylor half-raps her way through the verses, deadpanning about having “new muscles all over my back” in a delivery that manages to feel incredibly intimate and stadium-sized all at once.

Real Bruises: The Muay Thai Music Video

If the track sounds punchy, the accompanying music video takes things quite literally. Co-directed by the band’s own Saya Barbaglia alongside Luke Grieve and Daisy Ayscough, the visual features Freeman-Taylor and Barbaglia squaring off in a real, full-contact Muay Thai boxing match.

There are no stunt doubles or clever editing tricks here. The band confirmed that the combat on screen is entirely authentic:

“The fight in the video is real and we trained for it for a combined year—Saya for a year, Clari for a month.”

The visceral, bruising imagery provides a brilliant contrast to the track’s bright, danceable art-pop groove.

‘Role Model Hermit’ Tracklist

“New Muscles” slots in as track four on the upcoming record. Here is the full 11-track sonic journey to look forward to this July:

• 1. Mantra III

• 2. Blood

• 3. Seek And Destroy

• 04. New Muscles

• 5. Myrtle

• 6. Peter The Dog

• 7. Crash Landing

• 8. Welcome Break

• 9. Candelabra

• 10. Thou Shalt Sprout

• 11. Mouse

Catch the Band Live on Tour

To celebrate the album rollout, mary in the junkyard are embarking on a massive headline tour stretching across the UK, Europe, and North America. Following a string of intimate UK record store gigs around release week in July, they will hit the road full-force in autumn.

The tour features major stops at London’s Heaven on September 30 and Paris on October 5, before the band heads across the Atlantic in November for a run of North American dates hitting Toronto, Chicago, Brooklyn, and Los Angeles. Tickets officially went on sale May 22, so you’ll want to move fast to catch one of the UK’s most vital new acts in an intimate setting.