INTERVIEW

AFTER MONTHS OF ANTICIPATION, Isle of Wight band Coach Party return today with their sophomore album Caramel, out now via Chess Club Records. Following the breakout success of their 2023 debut KILLJOY, the self-produced project sees the four-piece lean into both the highs and lows of the past few years - tackling heartbreak, isolation, and self-loathing, while celebrating the relief and joy found in friendship and community. It’s a record that refuses to sit quietly in the corner, instead exploding with raw emotion, sharp wit, and stadium-sized energy.

Caramel arrives alongside the release of “Control,” a brand new single that further showcases the band’s range — weaving introspection with punchy, mosh-ready arrangements. Together with earlier singles “Do It For Love,” “Disco Dream” (featuring Black Honey’s Izzy Bee Phillips), and the fiery anthem “Girls!,” the album establishes Coach Party as one of the most exciting voices in modern indie rock. Their sound draws from grunge, pop, and riot grrrl energy, but always feels distinctly their own - bold, unfiltered, and brimming with urgency.

For Coach Party, Caramel is more than just a collection of songs; it’s a communal statement. Written and produced entirely by the band, the album reflects their willingness to experiment, to confront difficult emotions head-on, and to make music that feels as cathartic to play as it does to scream along to in the crowd. That duality - deeply personal yet undeniably collective - is what makes their music so magnetic.

With their reputation for explosive live shows already cemented through appearances at Glastonbury, SXSW, and tours with Queens of the Stone Age and Wet Leg, Coach Party are ready to take Caramel back to the stage on a newly announced UK and EU tour in 2026. Ahead of the release, we caught up with the Jess to talk about the spark behind the record, how she balances vulnerability with high-energy performance, and what she hopes fans carry with them after hearing Caramel.

LUNA: Caramel feels like both a catharsis and a celebration, pulling from loneliness, heartbreak, and friendship. What was the spark that set this album into motion after KILLJOY?

COACH PARTY: The spark was Joe. We were on our final date of the KILLJOY tour in Dublin (I think?) and Joe showed us a GarageBand demo of what is now “Do It For Love” and we went home to immediately start working on it. The rest of the songs followed closely behind that one.

LUNA: The title Caramel is so unexpected for an album full of raw emotion and mosh-worthy energy. What does the name mean to you, and how does it tie into the record’s themes?

COACH PARTY: Caramel means sticky, sickly, sometimes sweet, appealing to some, but maybe not to others... We were struggling to find the right word or title to summarise this album, as all the songs meant something different to us all, which is when Guy came up with the idea Caramel. Everyone (including us) will interpret and feel differently about these songs, and they all have such different meanings, we wanted to capture that, and Caramel was our word for that.

LUNA: Single “Girls!” is explosive, a rallying cry for connection and community. How did the idea for the song and its music video come together?

COACH PARTY: Joe and Guy were working on a guitar riff (which is now in “Girls!”) and they came up with the genius chorus “Where the fuck are my girls.” A little backstory about me is, I will almost always address my closest friends with “Hey Girl” despite any gender. Everyone at our show is our Girls, and it’s important they know how meaningful that word is to us. The video encapsulates that perfectly to me, it’s just a room full of different people and genders just all wanting to come together and be themselves and let loose. I loved rallying them together at the front, it felt proper culty.

LUNA: Jess, you’ve said “Girls!” is about letting loose for a few minutes regardless of who you are outside the gig. Do you see live shows as a kind of therapy or safe release for both the band and the fans?

COACH PARTY: Yes, I’ve always wanted our shows to be a safe space for people. In my dream reality, people come to our show and leave any sort of worry or anxieties at the door. I would love to find playing a show therapeutic, but I can only relax once I can see people are enjoying themselves, the show is always for them and I want to be giving my best to them every time.

LUNA: Caramel is self-produced, which can be both liberating and challenging. How did producing the album yourselves shape the sound and vision compared to working with outside producers?

COACH PARTY: We’ve never worked with any producers other than Guy, our drummer. He’s been producing our stuff since day one at his studio on the Isle of Wight, Studio Mustard. I honestly love that it’s him; it makes everything feel more natural. We can experiment, say exactly how we feel, and not worry about sounding “right,” which is super important for us. There was never a solid plan for how we wanted this record to sound. But once the songs started coming together, it got easier to find a sense of direction and keep things feeling consistent. The overall shape of the album came more from the emotions in the songs than anything else. We were all feeling a lot... These feelings came in the shape of grief, hurt, falling in love, frustration with the music industry. So it made sense to let those feelings lead the way.

LUNA: Since KILLJOY, you’ve played festivals like Glastonbury and SXSW, and toured with Queens of the Stone Age and Wet Leg. How have those experiences influenced your approach to making Caramel?

COACH PARTY: Things that influence and inspire us are less of what we’ve done, and it’s more the people that we surround ourselves with on the daily. However…Queens of the Stone Age were and always have been a huge inspiration for us musically.

LUNA: The album digs into heavy topics like isolation and self-loathing but still comes across as communal and full of life. How do you balance vulnerability with the high-energy, scream-along side of your music?

COACH PARTY: It’s always been something we’ve naturally done! It comes back to the album being emotionally led, we had so much to say and sing about, we wanted to make sure we hit every emotion, not just for ourselves, but for the listeners too.

LUNA: A lot of bands struggle with the “sophomore album” pressure. Did you feel any expectations after the success of KILLJOY, or did you intentionally try to block that noise out?

COACH PARTY: Yes, personally I did. I think because we loved KILLJOY so much ourselves, we wanted to make sure that we loved the second album the same amount or more. Despite the pressure though, as a four, it’s easy to forget it. Having fun with writing and each other makes you remember why you do it!

LUNA: If listeners walk away from Caramel with one feeling or message, what do you hope it is?

COACH PARTY: I always say it because it’s so important: YOU ARE NOT ALONE. It’s so easy to feel alone and lose yourself in that, but it’s important to remember we all go through tough times, and to reach out to a friend even if it feels hard. This album is for those who feel heavily and love hard.