Maccabees spin-off band 86TVs announce debut EP ‘You Don’t Have To Be Yourself Right Now’

The Maccabees spin-off band, 86TVs, have announced their debut EP ‘You Don’t Have To Be Yourself Right Now’.

• READ MORE: 86TVs discuss the “perfect heartbreak” of The Maccabees never headlining Reading & Leeds

Comprised of former Maccabees duo Hugo and Felix White, their younger brother and solo artist Will White, and drummer Jamie Morrison (Stereophonics, Noisettes), the band are set to release their first EP as 86TVs on January 26. You can pre-save it here.

‘You Don’t Have To Be Yourself Right Now’ will feature the band’s previously released singles ‘Worn Out Buildings’ and ‘Higher Love’ alongside two brand new tracks, ‘Spinning World’ and ‘Dreaming’.

The EP was recorded during sessions split between the band’s own Olympic Studios and The Bunker at 13, owned by Stephen Street (Blur, Suede), who produced all four tracks along with the band.

Speaking about the project in a press release, the band shared: “‘You Don’t Have To Be Yourself Right Now’ is our first ever group of songs to sit together in a collection. It feels good. It’s a fitting place to start – three of us brothers writing lyrics from different perspectives, lots of group singing, guitars, drums, pianos and about six or seven years of our lives all wrapped up in there!”

86TVs will be heading out to play a string of shows in support of their upcoming EP. They are also championing across Independent Venue Week and are set to play their first show of 2024 as part of the event in Edinburgh on January 30. From there, they will make stops across the Uk from late February until early March. Visit here for any remaining tickets and check out the full dates below.

86TVs 2024 UK tour dates are: 

JANUARY

30th – Edinburgh, Whistle Binkies (Independent Venue Week show)

FEBRUARY

25th – Dublin, The Workman’s Club

27th – Glasgow, King Tuts

28th – Newcastle, Think Tank?

29th – Nottingham, Bodega (SOLD OUT)

MARCH

2nd – Manchester, Deaf Institute (SOLD OUT)

3rd – Birmingham, Hare & Hounds (SOLD OUT)

5th – London, Lafayette (SOLD OUT)

6th – Bristol, Thekla

7th – Southampton, Joiners (SOLD OUT)

8th – Brighton, Concorde 2 (SOLD OUT)

In other news, Felix White previously shared how Johnny Marr helped steer the direction of 86TVs new music.

Speaking to NME in an interview about writing post-Maccabees and the direction of the new band, Felix explained how Johnny Marr, the former Smiths guitarist and songwriter, gave them some important advice for their new material.

“I think The Maccabees had just split up, but I’d read Johnny Marr’s autobiography, which I loved, and it was a really striking time to read it because a lot of his life has been about reinvention and change,” he recalled.

He continued: “So there was a correlation in my head at that particular moment in my life with what Johnny’s book had said. I bumped into him at the NME Awards and said, ‘Can I send you some music? We’ve just been doing some instrumental music and we don’t know if it’s good’. So I sent him all these instrumentals, which was actually quite a brazen thing to do looking back at it.”