The Empty Page – When We Gonna Run? (self released)
Manchester indie alt rock band The Empty Page are back with blistering new apocalyptical post-punk single When We Gonna Run?
Artist: The Empty Page
Track: When We Gonna Run?
Label: self-released
Released: 26 November 2025
Find it: Bandcamp
Do you ever wonder if there might come a time when you need to grab a bag full of essentials, jump in a vehicle with someone you love and get the hell away from this place? When We Gonna Run is, say The Empty Page, a song about running away from an apocalyptic world when the only thing that can save you is love.
Brilliantly capturing the vastness of possibilities ahead in the space created where beats drop in and out, and the claustrophobia of everything closing in through the racing heartbeat of guitars. There’s something of The Smashing Pumpkins in the expansive guitar sound and sweeping vocals, a subtle shoegazey-bend-and-slide behind the chorus, a little of The Smiths in the yearning expressed. But whatever influences seep in, When We Gonna Run? is undeniably the grit and shimmer of The Empty Page at their best.
‘Oh, this disease / we are damaged lung / we are fallen trees / No mysteries / we are terminal / we are history’
Kel says of the track, “It’s about clinging to a cinematic ideal of love as the only thing you can believe in, when everything else is crumbling around you. You’re just waiting for the word from this person you’ve put all your faith into. That tension. That anxiety. Like, are we doing this or what?”
The single comes just 18 months after the release of their second album, Imploding, and is the first in a run of singles. Kel said, “It took so long to finish the damn album that we already had a bunch of new ideas ready to go. With our new drummer, Steve, we were dying to get into a rehearsal room and bash around new ideas.”
We can’t wait to hear more from The Empty Page, and in the meantime it’s When We Gonna Run? on repeat.
When We Gonna Run? by The Empty Page is out now digitally. The band will be featured in the first issue of Popoptica in print – more to follow on this soon.
Find The Empty Page: Instagram | Facebook | Bandcamp | Website | TikTok
Live dates:
- 27 November 2025 – Star and Garter, Manchester (single launch)
- 31 December 2025 – Cinemac, Macclesfield (with Virginmarys)
- 31 January 2026 – Brudenell, Leeds (Handfest Punk Weekender)
Image: Debbie Ellis
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Sarah Lay
A long-standing music journalist she's also co-founder of independent record label Reckless Yes, an author of novels, and when not messing around with words and music, a digital strategist.
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