Prisoner To Release New Album On August 7th

French garage-psych outfit PRISONER will release its self-titled debut album on August 7, 2026, via Wicked Cool Records. Visceral, immersive, and intensely atmospheric, PRISONER introduces a band that treats rock music less like a collection of conventional songs and more like the soundtrack to an unseen film.

Driven by fuzz-heavy riffs, motorik rhythms, insistent repetition, and a stripped-down analog sensibility, the largely instrumental album unfolds as a continuous cinematic experience. Traditional song structures give way to texture, tension, and trance-like momentum, allowing each composition to bleed naturally into the next.

“PRISONER’s self-titled debut is a raw, hypnotic dive into modern garage rock—an immersive, largely instrumental experience driven by repetition, texture, and atmosphere over traditional song structure. Built on fuzz-heavy riffs, motorik rhythms, and a stripped-down, analog ethos, the album unfolds like a continuous cinematic flow, pulling listeners inward with its trance-like momentum. Eschewing polish for pure intent, PRISONER delivers a mood piece that distills rock to its essence—minimal, magnetic, and made for getting lost in.”

The album draws inspiration from the golden era of 1960s and ’70s film and television scoring, when bold arrangements, unforgettable themes, and dramatic instrumental passages carried as much narrative weight as dialogue. PRISONER channel that spirit through the urgency of garage rock, the shadowy pulse of post-punk, the repetition of krautrock, and the widescreen sweep of vintage soundtracks.

Rather than merely recreating the past, the band builds its own parallel universe—one filled with imaginary thrillers, forgotten cult films, late-night chase scenes, and television themes from programs that never existed. Trombone, keyboards, surf-leaning guitar lines, and tightly wound rhythms expand the band’s sonic range without sacrificing its direct, visceral attack.

The album was introduced earlier this year with the single “La femme qui s’était faite toute seule,” a tense and unpredictable track built around the idea that no one is truly self-made. Its driving groove, dramatic brass, and sweeping cinematic turns offered the first glimpse of the singular world PRISONER has created across the full-length.

Fronted by vocalist Susanne Pemmerl and led by guitarist Philippe “Philos” Simon-Girard, PRISONER combine the force of a rock band with the depth and flexibility of a full ensemble. The lineup is completed by Sébastien on bass, Marcus on trombone, Étienne on drums, and Lucas on keyboards.

The group has already earned support from tastemaker French radio outlet FIP and brought its high-energy, meticulously arranged live show to festivals throughout Europe. With its debut album, PRISONER now fully establishes its identity: cinematic yet immediate, nostalgic without imitation, and meticulously constructed without losing its raw edge.

Minimal, magnetic, and built to be experienced from beginning to end, PRISONER arrives August 7 via Wicked Cool Records.