English songwriter and guitarist Duncan Lloyd has just released Unwound, his sixth solo outing and his first collection of brand-new material for Reveal Records, who recently reissued his earlier solo work. Best known as the driving force behind indie stalwarts Maxïmo Park — and one half of Nano Kino with Sarah Suri — Lloyd has long been synonymous for pairing unflinching emotional honesty with adventurous soundscapes.
Written during a particularly turbulent time, Unwound took shape as both a coping mechanism and a cathartic release. Across 12 tracks, Lloyd expands his signature sound with a fresh sense of depth and ambition, balancing grit, melody and moments of stark beauty. The artwork, taken from his own paintings, mirrors the record’s introspective, immersive feel.
A Mercury Prize nominee and NME Award winner, Lloyd’s career has seen him rack up platinum and gold discs, eight Top 10 UK albums with Maxïmo Park, and a string of A-listed singles on BBC Radio 1 and 6 Music. For this project, he enlisted a close-knit cast of collaborators, including Maxïmo Park bandmates Jemma Freese and Tom English, Andrew Mills (Purploid Zing), and Joe Boyer (Cloud Nothings, Autopolitan).
Unwound is out now on Bandcamp, Apple Music, Spotify and on CD — early copies come with a bonus live EP, The Polestar Sessions.
In the video interview below, Lloyd reflects on the delicate art of navigating multiple creative pathways — how he instinctively knows when, where and through which medium to give shape to his ideas. He also unpacks the emotional terrain that gave rise to Unwound, describing how the LP evolved into an immersive soundscape designed to be truly experienced, not just passively consumed — a deliberate antidote to today’s fleeting, disposable ‘snack culture.’
