Having released a new album and toured Europe and the UK, the band continue to do it on their own terms.

This year, Langkamer released their brilliant new album ‘The Moon and Midnight Manual,’ a 27-minute blast of joy and jangle, via Breakfast Records. Not leaving it at that, new single ‘Jenny’ came out last month, bookending a year of joyous tours and converting tomorrow’s businessmen to the music life.

2023 for Langkamer.

Big year for us! We did an Independent Venue Week tour back in the winter, nearly a year ago now. That was fun. We put out our second album, ‘The Noon and Midnight Manual,’ in the spring, touring France and the UK to celebrate. We had some of the best shows we’ve ever done on that tour. Met so many great people and played with loads of amazing bands. It was a rollercoaster. In the summer we did a couple of little festivals and a small run of shows with Friendship from the States. They’re one of our favourite bands so that felt really special. We just put out a new single too. It’s called ‘Jenny’ and we made it ourselves here in Bristol.

Langkamer’s album of the year.

‘On Grace & Dignity’ by The Golden Dregs.

Song of the Year.

 ‘High School Gym’ by Dougie Poole.

A musical career highlight of the year:

If we ever make a ‘career’ out of this, we’ll let you know.

Favourite live show that you’ve played:

There’s a lot of competition for best show this year. Maybe our Bristol headline show at Strange Brew back in May. A lot of people came out for the one and it felt really special.

Another contender would be our show in Cherbourg back in April. That whole experience in Cherbourg felt really magic. It’s crazy to show up to a new town like that for the first time – with no idea what to expect – and then you end up with a sold-out show at a wonderful venue. Joie de vivre.

Favourite thing someone’s said about your music…

This year we found out that, after coming to one of our gigs, a guy felt inspired to change his degree from business to music. Apparently it was before he’d started university, and he was a bit unsure about doing business. Him and his dad came to our show and he decided to change direction and do a music degree. That sort of connection feels really crazy. We love that – meeting people and hearing about the relationship they’ve formed with our music. It’s wild. We really take nothing for granted and those small interactions mean the world to us. Anyway, now we’ve got one less businessman in the world and one more musician. That can only be a good thing.

…and the strangest thing someone’s said about your music…

When we toured the Netherlands we got compared to The Smiths three nights in a row. three different shows in three different cities. And three nights on the trot somebody different comes up to us and says we remind them of The Smiths. I don’t think that’s ever happened before or since. Do we sound like The Smiths? Maybe we do.

What you’re looking forward to in 2024…

We’re playing our inaugural U.S. show in March in New York so we’re looking forward to that. Lower East Side, baby. I’m walking here! Other than that, our plans are pretty fluid at the moment. We’ll probably put out some more music though. Play some more shows. Keep on rockin in the free world.