Chartreuse are pleased to share their latest single ‘Moon Man’. Listen here / watch the video here.
The track, which premiered earlier this morning on Lauren Laverne’s BBC 6Music radio show, is the final cut to be unveiled from the band’s new album Bless You & Be Well, out this Friday 29th August via Communion Records. Pre-order here.
Speaking about the release, guitarist and vocalist Mike Wagstaff says: “At the time of writing ‘Moon Man’ I was in a constant state of missing someone, so I felt qualified to write this song.
In Chinese mythology Chang’e was the wife of legendary archer Hou Yi, who was revered in legend for having shot down 9 of the 10 suns that were scorching the earth, leaving just one.
For this feat he was awarded an elixir of immortality, the elixir however contained only enough for one person. Hou Yi’s love for Chang’e was strong and not wanting to live forever without his wife he decided not to drink the elixir, but to entrust it to his wife so no one would drink it.
One day, his apprentice attempted to take the elixir for himself and in a desperate attempt to prevent him, Chang’e drank it herself. The elixir floated her to the moon, where she would go on to become the Moon Goddess, leaving her husband Hou Yi behind, mortal and heartbroken.
Hou Yi shouted to the sky and caught sight of a figure that resembled Chang’e swaying on the moon, and so would display fruits, cakes and other offerings at times of a full moon, to try to convey how much he missed her.”
The latest release also comes with the announcement of further EU tour dates for 2025, off the back of the band’s recent run of European festivals this summer including Hungary’s Sziget and Germany’s Heldern Pop.
The group will celebrate their new album with a selection of listening parties and record shop in-store dates in the coming days, before later embarking on a UK headline tour this autumn.
The full list of dates can be found below. Tickets available here.
Chartreuse’s previous single releases ‘More’, ‘Fold’, ‘I’m Losing It’ and ‘Sequence of Voices’ have gained consistent radio support from BBC Radio 1 & BBC 6Music, as well as press acclaim from Wonderland, Rough Trade, Clash, The Line of Best Fit, whynow, Far Out, The New Cue and Rolling Stone UK, who quoted 2025 as being a “transformative year for the band.”
ABOUT CHARTREUSE
For Chartreuse, the rural Icelandic studio Flóki served as a refuge in a myriad of ways. Set in a secluded location on the northern tip of the island, a five-hour drive from Reykjavík, the Black Country band’s two-week stay here in the summer of 2024 was one of escape, connection and understanding. They returned home with a special, urgent and necessary new album, Bless You & Be Well.
The dynamic of the Black Country band feels wholeheartedly distinct. The four-piece are intimately interconnected – brothers Mike (guitar, vocals) and Rory Wagstaff (drums) are joined by Rory’s long-term partner Hattie Wilson (piano, vocals) and Hattie’s childhood friend Perry Lovering (bass).
Their 2023 debut Morning Ritual introduced a group that swerved the traditional tropes of indie-rock bands, instead using their instruments and innovative production techniques in unusual and thrilling ways. They set a precedent of equality from day one, with the instruments they play all interchangeable, and no lead songwriter dictating their every move. This remains the case. Music for them is like pulling puzzle pieces out of the air, fitting things in the right configuration.
But now, on their new album Bless You & Be Well, it’s each of their personal experiences which inform their new material.
Their latest recordings were brought to life with producer Sam Petts-Davies (The Smile) and engineer Oli Middleton. Having self-produced their debut album, bringing other minds into their creative fold was daunting at first. But it quickly became one of their best decisions. Gut instincts presided over second-guessing; if it sounded good in the moment, it stayed. If it didn’t, they tried something else. As Petts-Davies, a calm and easy-going antidote to the band’s self-declared perfectionists, told them: “You are a band and this is how you sound, so let’s just run with it.”
No people, no limits, no distractions… all external noise was shut out, allowing Bless You & Be Well to become their most expansive album to date. But their remote location in Iceland provided a sanctuary in more ways than one, offering them a vital reprieve from the personal struggles that each of the band members were facing in their own lives.
For Lovering, navigating the grief of their late father’s passing bled into the creation of Chartreuse’s latest songs. Yet rather than drowning in existentialism, Lovering learned that grief doesn’t have to be the end, and that the pursuit of creating things that make you happy – in his case, making music – is ultimately what makes life worth living.
For Wilson, the anxieties of undergoing major surgery at just 29-years-old, learning to walk properly again, and the long road to recovery that still lies ahead for her shaped her approaches to the band’s new music. Initially guilty that it would affect those around her, opening up has not only been a learning curve, but also a humbling experience to witness the care that her friends, family and bandmates are more than willing to give.
Only a band as strongly connected for so many years could create such a space for each other in order to disappear into their music together, Wilson says: “To have those bonds within the band is really special and we can naturally pick up on each other’s cues. I don’t know if it would work with any other people, or if we would be able to be totally ourselves, or as accepting of each other on what anyone’s going through.”
Being in a band is a necessary part of life for Chartreuse. Writing music offers them a canvas to lay bare their emotions. But while informed by struggle and grief, their new music isn’t defined by it. Instead, it’s a window through which to understand both yourself and those around you better and more deeply. It also affirms the power of something as seemingly trivial as being in a band, and of music as a way to understand and move through life.
It all culminates in a fresh new chapter for Chartreuse, imbued with a palpable sense of honesty and introspectiveness that will no doubt resonate with others far and wide.
Chartreuse Live Dates:
(*) with support from Moreish Idols
(+) with support from Lavender
(**) co-headline with Moreish Idols
Thursday 28th August – The Bread & Butter Collective, London (album release party)
Saturday 30th August – Banquet Records, Kingston (in-store)
Sunday 31st August – Rough Trade, Bristol (in-store)
Monday 1st September – Truck Records, Oxford (in-store)
Tuesday 2nd September – Crash Records, Leeds (in-store)
Thursday 30th October – Green Door Store, Brighton (+)
Saturday 1st November – Bradshaw Hall, Birmingham (+)
Tuesday 4th November – King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow (**)
Thursday 6th November – Three Tanners Bank, North Shields (*)
Friday 7th November – Deaf Institute Lodge, Manchester (*)
Saturday 8th November – Mash, Cambridge (*)
Monday 10th November – The Lanes, Bristol (*)
Tuesday 11th November – Forum, Royal Tunbridge Wells (*)
Thursday 13th November – St Peter’s Church, Poole (*)
Friday 14th November – Bush Hall, London (*)
Saturday 15th November – Live at Leeds in the City
2026 EU Tour Dates:
Monday 2nd February – DR Studio 3, Copenhagen
Wednesday 4th February – Paradiso, Amsterdam
Thursday 5th February – Lutherse Kerk, Groningen
Friday 6th February – Artheater, Cologne
Saturday 7th February – Molotow, Hamburg
Sunday 8th February – Bergahin Kantine, Berlin
Tuesday 10th February – Supersonic Records, Paris
Album artwork
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