Anna Meredith is back with new music, and this time it comes with a full album rather than a score. Darling, the contemporary classical composer’s first non-soundtrack record since 2021’s Bumps Per Minute: 18 Studies for Dodgems, arrives February 12 via Mercury KX. The lead single, “Dusky,” has a music video out now, and its surreal stop-motion visuals set the tone for a record that leans into color and movement.
Meredith describes the album as a channel of intensity, energy and euphoria. “This is me making music to summon motion, tension, and release, to push through my brain and my body at a time when my own world (and the world in general) feels overwhelming,” she said in a press statement. “My aim was to create a unique experience ultimately for myself but also for those I’m bringing along on this journey with me. I wanted to lean into a technicolor version of what my music can be, reaching for higher highs and greater twists and turns, and letting it sit with more confidence than ever before.”
From Fibs to Scores
Meredith is London-born and Scottish-raised, and her catalog blends intricate classical music with hyper pop and expansive ambient textures. Her last full album was 2019’s Fibs. Since then, she has shifted into soundtrack work, scoring the A24 film Tuesday and Netflix’s The End We Start From.
That shift changed the shape of her output. Soundtracks tend to serve a film’s mood rather than stand alone, and Meredith’s recent work has been shorter, more modular, and built for scenes rather than extended listening. Darling returns her to the format of a proper album, with eleven tracks and a running order that moves from the moody opener “Dusky” through the angular “Mode Mouse” to the closing “Peach.”
The record is a return to Meredith’s own impulses, as she puts it in the statement. She is summoning motion, tension and release for herself first, then for the listeners who follow her along. That framing matters because it explains why the album sounds more confident than her earlier records — she is not chasing a genre or a trend, she is leaning into what her own body wants to produce.
The Singles So Far
“Dusky” is the first single, and its video leans into stop-motion surrealism. The track itself, as Meredith described it, is about summoning motion and release — pushing through brain and body at a time when the world feels overwhelming. It sets the tone for an album that wants to feel bigger and brighter than its predecessor.
The album’s title track, “Darling,” is the second single, though the source does not confirm it as such. It is a channelling of intensity, energy and euphoria, according to Meredith’s statement. The record aims to create a unique experience for herself and those she brings along on the journey.
Track by Track
Here is the full running order for Darling:
| # | Track |
|---|---|
| 1 | Dusky |
| 2 | Mode Mouse |
| 3 | Last Words |
| 4 | Cry Baby |
| 5 | Lye |
| 6 | Underling |
| 7 | Mink |
| 8 | Rites |
| 9 | Aphid |
| 10 | 3019 |
| 11 | Peach |
The order moves from the moody opener “Dusky” through the angular “Mode Mouse” to the closing “Peach.”
What Meredith Said
Meredith’s statement is the heart of this announcement. She is making music to summon motion, tension and release, and she is doing it at a time when her own world and the world in general feel overwhelming. That is a personal starting point, but she frames it as something shared.
“I wanted to lean into a technicolor version of what my music can be, reaching for higher highs and greater twists and turns, and letting it sit with more confidence than ever before,” she said. That ambition is the album’s thesis statement. She is not settling for what her music has done before — she is reaching for something bigger.
The Catalog Context
Meredith’s catalog runs from classical precision to hyper pop to ambient expansiveness. Darling sits alongside her soundtrack work, which includes the A24 film Tuesday and Netflix’s The End We Start From.
Her previous full albums were 2019’s Fibs and 2021’s Bumps Per Minute: 18 Studies for Dodgems. The latter was a collection of studies, while the former was a full-length record. Darling is her first non-soundtrack album since Bumps Per Minute.
Release Details
Darling is out February 12 via Mercury KX. The music video for the first single, “Dusky,” is out now, and you can watch its surreal stop-motion visuals below before the LP’s release.
The record is a return to Meredith’s own impulses, as she puts it in the statement. She is summoning motion, tension and release for herself first, then for the listeners who follow her along. That framing matters because it explains why the album sounds more confident than her earlier records — she is not chasing a genre or a trend, she is leaning into what her own body wants to produce.
What to Watch For
The video for “Dusky” is the immediate draw. Its stop-motion visuals set the tone for the record’s surreal and intense direction. The album itself is a chance to hear Meredith push her sound further, reaching for higher highs and greater twists and turns.
The singles will keep coming between now and the February release. The album’s title track, “Darling,” arrives with the same intensity Meredith described in her statement. The record aims to create a unique experience for herself and those she brings along on the journey.
Key Facts Box
- Artist: Anna Meredith
- Album: Darling
- Release date: February 12
- Label: Mercury KX
- Tracks: 11
- Previous album: Bumps Per Minute: 18 Studies for Dodgems (2021)
Our View
Meredith is a composer who has never settled into one lane. Her catalog moves between classical precision and hyper pop, and her soundtrack work has given her room to experiment across film and television. Darling is her chance to bring that range back into a single, focused statement.
The album’s ambition is clear in Meredith’s own words. She is reaching for higher highs and greater twists and turns, and she is doing it with more confidence than ever before. That is a bold claim, and the singles so far suggest she means it.
The video for “Dusky” shows a world of motion and release, and the album’s title track promises more of the same. This is a composer who knows what she wants to make, and she is making it with everything she has.
See the video the story is built around at Pitchfork.
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