Six years. That's a long time to leave something unfinished, and the Spook School clearly felt it.

The Scottish indie-pop band split in 2019, and now they're back with a new album, Like A Heartbeat, and a lead single, "Falling", out today. Whether this reunion has legs will depend entirely on whether they've actually got something to say — and based on what they're putting forward, it sounds like they have.

No Easing Back In

Credit where it's due: they haven't returned with a mid-tempo, let's-see-how-this-lands effort. Vocalist Nye Todd is upfront about the intention: "We really wanted to make sure we came back feeling urgent and energized. We didn't want people to listen and think 'oh they've had a break, they're a bit older, mellower and chilled out now.' We wanted to go 100mph and get stuck into people's ears."

That's the right attitude. There's nothing worse than a reunion that apologises for itself — bands coming back soft and tentative, sounding like they've made peace with irrelevance. The Spook School aren't doing that, and "Falling" exists as the first bit of evidence.

For the writing of Like A Heartbeat, the group have cited Radioactivity, the Beths, Alvvays, Swearin', and Bad Moves as reference points. That's a particular cluster of influences — sharp, melodic, guitar-forward indie pop with real urgency to it. If the record lands anywhere near those names, they'll have made something worth your time. The Shudder To Think school of thought applies here too: [bands returning after long absences with a clear sense of purpose](/getohedz/music/shudder-to-think-announce-new-ep-who-sent-you-hear) tend to produce better work than those drifting back out of habit.

The Record

Like A Heartbeat was recorded with Rod Jones of Idlewild at his Post Electric Studio in Leith, Edinburgh. That's a serious bit of pedigree behind the desk. Jones knows how to make guitar records that feel both full and precise, and recording in Leith rather than some anonymous studio gives the whole thing a sense of place.

The tracklist runs eleven songs deep — "Margins", "Saying It All", "Corporate Caring", "A Little Clearer", "Falling", "Same Old Song", "Time", "Can't Speak Up", "Survive", "New Town", "You're Wrong". Titles like "Corporate Caring" and "Can't Speak Up" suggest the band haven't arrived back with nothing on their minds. Good. Indie pop with something to say tends to outlast indie pop that's just well-produced.

The album drops on 29 January 2027 through Slumberland and Alcopop!. For context, [Jonas Blue recently described making music that felt like a job he didn't want](/getohedz/music/jonas-blue-rebranded-learned-an-instrument-called-ai-absolutely-horrendous) — the Spook School seem to be coming from the opposite position entirely. They've chosen to come back. That distinction matters.

Verdict

We're not handing out standing ovations on the basis of one single and a well-worded press quote, but the signs here are decent. A band returning with stated urgency, a producer who knows their sound, and an eleven-track record isn't hedging their bets — it's committing. "Falling" is out now. Go and make up your own mind.