Charlie Pinhey
Music journalist & online sub-editor for CLUNK Magazine based in Bristol. Fumbling around on social media trying to tell people about my interviews and reviews. Follow me @charvawritesstuff
With their new album ‘All That Is Over’ out today, SPRINTS open up about evolution, energy, and the personal battles that fuel their sound
SPRINTS‘ last twelve months has been a whirlwind, which puts it mildly, as we would come on to discuss in this interview. Since releasing their acclaimed debut album, ‘Letter To Self‘, SPRINTS have toured America twice, dealt with a lineup change, and supported Fontaines D.C. Now, SPRINTS have released their latest album ‘All That Is Over‘, written during soundchecks and on tour buses. ‘All That Is Over‘ adds more layers to SPRINTS‘ sound and follows a distinctive narrative structure from opening track ‘Abandon‘ to the album’s final track ‘Desire‘.
What shone through whilst I was speaking to Karla, Zac, Sam and Jack, was their fierce togetherness and just how excited they were to get back on the road and be in each other’s company once more.
As a band, could you sum up your journey to date and does the word “whirlwind” put it mildly?
J: Yeah, particularly since the first record came out. I think we almost think of it as if we had the band pre the first album, and since then. Mainly just because we were all working and stuff before the first album came out and just doing music as much as we could around that. So, we put out a couple of EPs over a few years in the usual kind of starting off thing. It was kind of mental before anyway because it was just being away most of the time and then going straight back into work. Not really having any time to yourself. Whereas now we’ve just been insanely busy gigging. It’s hard to take it all in while it’s happening. But we’re all having a good time, so happy days!
What does ‘All That Is Over‘ signify for you all, both thematically and emotionally?
S: I think it’s like Jack pointed to there. So much has changed in our lives personally and in the lineup as well with Colm leaving. We were definitely different people when the first album came out than we are now. So, the name ‘All That Is Over’ kind of feels like a bit of a fresh start, which is weird because it’s only our second album. So, it’s as if all that is in the past, now let’s crack on and look forward and keep on trucking.
It seems crazy the number of strings you had to pull together so quickly: musically, with Zac coming in but also emotionally as well. How and where would you say that frantic time comes through on the record?
S: There’s some songs that we wrote in soundchecks at gigs, which are kind of probably the more mad songs, like, ‘Pieces’ and ‘Something’s Gonna Happen’. If you listen to those songs, they’re very loud and kind of trashy. I guess that’s maybe our way of subconsciously summing up the madness of it all.
The lead single ‘Descartes’ was inspired by Rachel Cusk’s line “I think therefore I am” and Karla you amended the line to “I speak so therefore I understand.” Could you unpack how that concept shaped the song—and perhaps the record as a whole?
K: Writing has always been the centre point of me as a person and I think I struggled a long time to come to terms with that. As well as literature, and how important it actually is to me, I fell in love with reading for a long time. And we talk about this a lot, how when you are on tour, it’s very easy to be fully consumed by touring and forget all the other parts of yourself that make you a person, besides being a musician. I think in the chaos of last year and how much we were touring and how much was going on in the world – when we had those rare days or moments off at home, that might be a day a month, I was always turning to music and to writing to kind of naturally unpack.
So, when it came to writing the lyrics, I read Rachel Cusk’s book, and it really just sparked the spiral in my head that vanity in people’s beliefs in their political stances, where they think theirs are more important than someone else’s, leads to a lot of conflict and marginalisation. And the only way I was able to unpack all of that was by writing. I studied philosophy in college and that’s about the full extent of my pretentiousness. “I speak therefore I understand” was my way of reworking the hypotheses. To say therefore, we’re sentient beings, but to be a functioning emotionally, intelligent human.
There’s also a track on the album ‘Abandon’ inspired by Dante’s Inferno. There’s almost a protective quality wrapped in ‘Abandon’ and ‘Beg’ to solidify the power of the written word- is that a fair assessment?
K: I think that’s a fair point. With this album, in particular, I leaned into a lot of those literary references a lot more and they became artistic tools to use and direct inspirations and also jumping off points for some of the lyrics.
The line, “abandon all hope” was directly inspired by Dante’s Inferno. But as a song it was constructed and written literally to serve as an introduction to a book, almost thinking about the album as a novel. I wanted it to be a story where it had to have a beginning, middle and an end.
‘Abandon‘ is the introduction to the world and the mood that you’re about to set foot in. It’s not a 30 second intro song, it’s really supposed to welcome you in introduce some of the themes, the moodiness, the atmosphere and what the lyrical content you can expect. That’s where a lot of melancholy comes from as well.
Are there standout moments — maybe in the songs themselves or perhaps playing live shows recently, that encapsulate the heart of this album?
J: I think for all of us it’s probably ‘Desire’, the last track on the album. It’s definitely our favourite. I think we played is as an opener at a festival recently just because we really wanted to play it. It probably wasn’t the place or the place in the set to play it, but we played it at the last gig we did with Fontaines during the summer and it was great. So I’m really looking forward to when people have actually heard it.
Z: I remember at that Fontaines show, we started ‘Desire’ and obviously no one had heard it so everyone was talking at the start of the song. Then by the second break you could hear a pin drop before we played the loudest thing ever!
K: And in ‘Coming Alive’ there’s a moment in one of the last choruses where we kick back in with a riff and you think it’s fully formed and then a Fairlight comes in, so there’s a layer of synth over everything and it lifts everything ever so slightly. It felt really euphoric. That describes the album because it’s such a mix of electric and analogue with the lyrical content, lifting from melancholy into a coping scenario.
Karla, you’ve described a real familial bond among band members. How has that dynamic shifted during a pivotal year of creative growth?
K: I think massively. Obviously with the lineup change, that was a major concern. There was never a second where we doubted whether we were going to continue, it was more so a question of how? Wondering whether we’d find anyone who fit with us in the same way? And then with Zac we hit the jackpot.
Over the last year we’ve really learned how to look after each other but also ourselves as well. Instinctively, we’ve also been able to trust each other’s talents and our processes. In the studio there was very little second guessing and nine times out of ten if we had an idea it would work. We knew what we wanted to add and what needed to be subtracted and everyone played their part in it perfectly.
In a very real sense, you’re living with people 300 days of the year because we’re on tour and sometimes the worst conditions and sometimes very beautiful conditions and if you can get through that and survive, it’s great. But you need to have your own individual interests and identity outside of being a musician. Which has kept us quite sane and healthy because we know how to nurture that in each other.
If Zac had to describe his initiation into SPRINTS in one story, what would it be?
Z: The first show I ever did, the stage we were meant to play got flooded, at Bearded Theory, so we got bumped up to the main stage and I think the last show I would have played before then would have been to about fifteen people. So that was very strange and I was very nervous. I had to have a few drinks before because I was terrified I was going to go on stage and people were going to go “he’s not the guy!” or “he’s not as good!”. But then it went well and here we are!
J: He’s passed his initiation though, just to be clear!
How do you balance confronting heavy subjects, and there’s a lot of them out there at the moment, with crafting music that still resonates energetically in your live shows?
K: I think when it comes to the live shows, it’s very little about us and very much about the audience. Dare I say it’s also very little about the context of the song. The subject matter of the songs might be heavy, but we never sit down and go “lets write a song about Palestine, or about the political climate”. I think those things inherently seep into our subconscious because they impact us as people.
The record is your time to digest and dissect. When you’re at the show that’s when you want to live it. And so, we bring that energy alive through community, through catharsis and positive rage. We intend to use our platform, and we continue to use it. We’re building a narrative and a world to show you how important music and the arts are as a way to use your voice.
With the amount of shows that you’ve played, what’s the craziest thing you’ve seen out in the crowd?
J: The funniest thing I’ve ever seen was the last show we did in 2024 in Paris with a super low stage so it was easy for people to get up. Our tour manager wanted to get involved, came to the front of the crowd, went to crowd surf and just absolutely face planted, just like School Of Rock. Also in the process completely ripped his trousers open. So came back up on stage, obviously full of shame and we were mid song. I was crying with laughter and it’s the hardest I’ve ever had to work to carry on playing.
There’s been a lot of music from SPRINTS in a relatively short space of time. How do you think the band have evolved creatively since those early EP days?
K: We’re better! That’s for sure. And we have a lot more confidence in us as a band. We’re at the stage now where we’ve agreed that we’re meant to do this. It’s really nice that we’ve just done an album and been playing shows, but when we’re off stage the first thing we’ll do is mess around and writing new stuff. We just want to make noise and have fun.
S: There are some shows that we’ve played that have been real pinch-me moments. This summer we supported Bloc Party at the Philharmonic in France. There’s always moments at how fun and crazy it is. And I miss it. I’ve been off the road for two weeks and I’m bored!
If ‘All That Is Over‘ were a thriller movie, who’d direct it and what would the tagline be?
J: If he were still alive, I’d love David Lynch and I think we all would.
K: I’d want Scorsese to give us a Shutter Island vibe. The tagline could be ‘All That Is Over…Or Is it?’
If you could put one non-SPRINTS track on this album, as if it were secretly part of the set, what would it be?
K: For the album I would put ‘Loud Bark’ by Mannequin Pussy or ‘I Got Heaven’ because thematically they fit but also because they’re so fucking good and I wish I wrote those songs.
To the live set we’d do an LCD Soundsystem one. ‘Dance Yrself Clean’ or ‘North American Scum’.
J: Sam also suggested ‘(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thing’
Listen to ‘All That Is Over‘ here:
Catch SPRINTS at the following:
September 26th – Dublin, IE – Tower Records
September 27th – Liverpool, UK – Jacaranda (Outstore at Baltic)
September 28th – Manchester, UK – Piccadilly (Outstore at Night & Day)
September 29th – Brighton, UK – Resident (Outstore at Chalk)
September 30th – London, UK – Rough Trade East
October 1st – Bristol, UK – Rough Trade
October 2nd – Kingston, UK – Banquet (Outstore at Fighting Cocks)
October 3rd – Berlin, DE – Rough Trade (Outstore at Mikropol)
October 17th – Saint Brieuc, FR – Carnavalorock Festival
October 18th – Le Havre, FR – Ouest Park Festival
October 19th – Joué-lès-Tours, FR – Le Temps Machine
October 21st – Nimes, FR – Paloma
October 22nd – Lyon, FR – Marché Gare
October 23rd – Etagnières VD, CH – Croc the Rock Festival
November 2nd – Belfast, UK – Empire Hall
November 5th – Huddersfield, UK – The Parish
November 6th – Glasgow, UK – SWG3 Galvanizers
November 7th – Leeds, UK – Leeds Beckett Student Union
November 8th – Manchester, UK – Albert Hall
November 10th – Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK – Newcastle University Student Union (NUSU)
November 11th – Sheffield, UK – Foundry
November 12th – Nottingham, UK – Rock City
November 14th – London, UK – Troxy
November 15th – Bristol, UK – O2 Academy Bristol
November 18th – Oxford, UK – O2 Academy 1 Oxford
November 20th – Dublin, IE – Vicar Street
2026
March 10th – Tourcoing, FR, Grand Mix
March 11th – Brussels, BE, Botanique
March 12th – Amsterdam, NL Melkweg
March 17th – Copenhagen, DK, Loppen
March 20th – Warsaw, PL, Voodoo
March 21st – Prague, CZ, Akropolis
March 24th – Zürich, CH, Bogen F
March 25th – Milan, IT, Arci Bellezza
March 28th – Paris, FR, Cabaret Sauvage