Death & Love is the sixth studio album by British indie rock band Circa Waves. Originally released as Death & Love Pt.1 on 31 January 2025 and later released as Death & Love Pt. 2 on 24 October 2025, the two parts collectively form the album Death & Love, which features 18 songs. It was released by Lower Third, an affiliate of PIAS Recordings.
Background Circa Waves released the single "We Made It" to announce the band's sixth album on 30 September 2024. Lead vocalist and guitarist Kieran Shudall in an interview with NME said that Part 1 of the album was influenced by his emergency heart surgery due to viral pericarditis, a heart inflammation and said of the album:"I thought I might die before I made this record, and then I didn't, and I got to make an album of music that I loved. The shackles were off, in a way, because I had this newfound joy and excitement for being alive." After the release of "We Made It", Circa Waves released two singles, "American Dream" on 1 November 2024 and "Like You Did Before" on 9 December 2024, ahead of the January 2025 release of Death & Love Pt.1. Following the release of Part 1, "Cherry Bomb" and "Old Balloons" were released on 9 July 2025 and 25 September 2025, respectively, prior to the launch of Death & Love Pt.2 in October 2025.
Release Death & Love Pt.1 was released on 31 January 2025 and Death & Love Pt.2 was released on 24 October 2025. Both parts of the album were available via digital download, CD and vinyl.
Critical reception
According to review aggregator website Metacritic, the album received "universal acclaim" from critics from mainstream publications with a weighted average score of 82/100, based on four reviews.
PopMatters writer Rich Wilhelm gave bot Death & Love Pt.1 and Death & Love Pt.2 8/10 ratings. Wilhelm described Death & Love as "2025's best pop albums". AllMusic gave the entire album 4.5/5 stars, describing it as a "rock & roll rage against the dying of the light". Emma Harrison, a writer for Clash, characterized Part 1 as a "stellar offering of euphoric resilience" and gave it 8/10-rating. Harrison later reviewed Part 2, giving it a 6/10 rating. MusicOMH gave Death & Love Pt.2 3/5 stars, with writer John Murphy criticizing the album for "sound[ing] like indie-rock by numbers". Murphy also stated that both parts of the album did a "decent job" at recording a "traumatic" period in the band.
Track listing
Charts +Chart performance for Death & Love Pt.2Chart (2025)PeakpositionScottish Album (OCC)79
Personnel Circa Waves
Kieran Shudall – vocals, guitar, keyboards, production Joe Falconer – guitar, vocals Sam Rourke – bass guitar, keyboards, vocals Colin Jones – drums, vocals
See also
British rock music Britpop
References