Saints in the Wethouse: Vinyl LP
XL1712LPPre-Order Item. Release Date Subject to Change.
Label: XL Recordings
Release Date: 19th February 2027
Artist, chorepgrapher and rapper Blackhaine is intense, his dance has an aggressive beauty which has seen him collaborate with the likes Playboi Carti, Fontaines, Bad Bunny and more. His art has a feeling of constantly punching through barriers, whether that's from his working class background, being a proudly Northern artist in a Londoncentric art industry and establishing his voice as a rapper with an industrial heft, an aggression and belief that they deserve their place. One of the year's heaviest releases.
Blackhaine is the moniker of Tom Hayes, a rapper, dancer, producer and choreographer from Preston, Lancashire. Emerging from the circle of artists around Salford’s The White Hotel, he first drew attention with a trilogy of EPs, Armour (2020), And Salford Falls Apart (2021) and Armour II (2022), which channelled youthful alienation into rugged, futuristic rap. He also developed a dance style of slow, hyper-controlled contortions inspired by Japanese butoh. His live shows and art-world exhibitions carry the same uniquely intense stage presence and clarity of vision, sought for stage and creative direction by artists including Playboi Carti, Fontaines D.C., Fred again.. and Bad Bunny, and presented at the Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, Sonar, Manchester International Festival, the Venice Biennale and Club2Club.
That intensity transposes directly to record on his debut album, Saints In The Wethouse. Produced by Blackhaine, joined by North West peers Rainy Miller, Croww and Space Afrika and executive producer Wraith9 (Esdeekid), it shapeshifts from claustrophobic drill to industrial ambient, with vocals delivered in single takes. Playboi Carti visited his Oldham studio and hyped up his third verse on ‘Valium’. Aligned to Blackhaine’s vision and dramaturgy, the cast realise an album worthy of his cinematic namesake.
Set in a night-world of rain-drenched streets, looming tower blocks and distant sirens, the album charts his near-implosion after becoming a star of the UK avant-garde. His wounded, free-form rapping links stories of self-annihilation, social critique and soul-searching in a noirish exploration of the prisons we build around ourselves, or others build for us, and the possibility of salvation. The title was inspired by Penny Woolcock’s 2000 documentary The Wet House, which his partner sent him at his lowest point. It closes with an eight-minute title track set at Liverpool docks, imagining rescue from drowning as the “floodlights in the rain” fade and “morning light comes again”, though it isn’t a happy ending.
Resisting attempts to pin his work to a place or a look, Blackhaine describes himself as “an anti-aesthetic person”, adding: “We should push methodology as opposed to aesthetic.”
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