(Credits: Far Out / Hannah Woollam)
Thu 20 November 2025 18:02, UK
Bug Teeth – ‘Micrographia’
Grief is one of the hardest feelings to put into words, let alone experience. Yet, on Bug Teeth’s debut album, Micrographia, this incomprehensible puzzle of emotions is gently pieced together by a mixture of haunting ambience, textured synths, and the unmistakable lilt of PJ Johnson’s otherworldly voice, sometimes innocent and breathy, other times harnessing pure pain.Â
THE SKINNY: The Leeds music scene has been thriving for some time, but it was actually in Norwich that Bug Teeth began as Johnson’s solo project. Eventually, a relocation to the northern city, joined by a full band to further bring the project to life, brought the opportunity for experimentation and community, with Bug Teeth finding themselves a stalwart part of the city’s vibrant scene.Â
Micrographia is long-awaited, in fact, it was recorded over a year ago, but it sounds utterly timeless, as though it exists simultaneously in the past, present and future. The experience of losing a loved one messes with your timeline; perhaps old memories become tainted, bittersweet, and with honesty and impressive vulnerability, Johnson explores such feelings, moving through light and dark.Â
The album opens with the tender lullaby-esque ‘Tapeworm’, bringing together a mixture of innocence and slight trepidation as Johnson introduces the album’s overarching theme of loss. There are times when the band allow themselves to sit in quietness, with tracks like ‘Crunch Went The Snow’, a lament so poignantly beautiful that it takes your breath away. It sounds like memory, like reflection – a cold, snowy walk through a field at dusk.Â
Seamlessly, though, the band traverse different ground, with ‘Topiary’ standing out as their most ‘radio-friendly’ track, so to speak. A short, sharp, danceable number based around an earworm-y synth opening, reflecting the more hopeful side of the grieving process. Then there’s the glitching ‘Thin Circle’ and the gorgeous ‘Merricat’, which evokes a certain sweetness, twinkling and ethereal.Â
This is an album that deals with big topics, sure, but at its core it’s a celebration of life, even when it’s at its most complicated. Sometimes, we’re drawn into a sonic landscape that hangs heavy, pressing against our chests like a thick-soled boot, emotionally dense and tinged with trauma. But there are those windows of light that equally make themselves known, shimmering through with a distinctive weightlessness, suspended between life and death.Â
The Verdict: Bug Teeth have crafted a practically flawless debut album in the form of Micrographia, which sits somewhere between electronica, art rock, psychedelia, ambient, and dream pop. Evoking images of the natural world with its gorgeously textured palette, which connects us to the innately human experience of beginnings and inevitable endings, this is a record to hold close.Â
Defining Track: ‘Crunch Went the Snow’Â
Release date: November 21st, 2025 | Producer: Joel Anthony Patchett | Label: State 51
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