BALANCING ACT

WHO'VE YOU COME AS?

(PART 2),

OUT 27TH MARCH

Tomfoolery. Seduction. Self-sabotage. Three key ingredients for a deliciously debaucherous affair. More importantly, three staple elements that make up DIY Manchester-via-London theatrical misfits Balancing Act’s forthcoming record Who've You Come As (Part 2).

Since their inception in 2022, Balancing Act has been busy developing a world of nonsensical grandeur. They bask in the gloomy rays of Tim Burton’s gothic allure and melancholy, and the aural innovation of Father John Misty, The Marías, Richard Hawley, The Walkmen, whilst simultaneously carving out their own display of inky, erotic and ludicrous intrigue. One only has to quickly glance at their stage designs to immerse themselves in the Burtonesque fantasy.

Why release the album in two parts, you wonder? Adaptability and visibility. The aim of the game was to keep eyes and ears on the band at all times.

Vocalist Kai Roberts remarks, “We live in a world where if you don't align with the trend then you can be stabbing in the dark. We couldn’t bear to let our songs be released in the original album structure to be left and forgotten about… It felt like we were being smarter for our art, crew and fans.”

In comparison to WYCA? Part 1, Kai describes the coming half as “a Jack Russell on a lead that has no patience”, urging to pull the sound in a different direction at an unsettling and concerning pace.

WYCA? Part 2 demands to demonstrate that Balancing Act cannot and will not be confined into one sonic space. It sees them at their most playful, most personal, indulging in emotions for the better (or for the worse) with their true to type tongue in cheek charm seeping into the mix. What remains, however, is a level of ambiguity that they hope sees the record stand the test of time.

Almost all of Part 1 and Part 2 were created in Allouette, a writing retreat studio in the western French countryside, with Kai’s lifelong musical partner Joe Woolf, and was then later wrestled into a shiner and grander product by Dave Bardon and Oscar ‘Sholto’ Robertson of SFJ in their East London studio. “This was a painful and testing two weeks.” Kai confesses of the mixing and mastering process. “Egos were bruised. Music was made.”

Balancing Act sits atop a fantastical ball for a particular reason - theatrics make up an intrinsic part of the band’s DNA, with the band’s own Kai Roberts having multiple close calls with being whisked off to the circus as a child. He details a beautifully bizarre childhood, full of characters you couldn't even describe over text. “My parents were the raver types, love, peace, dance and all that jazz. Summers were spent working festivals and living in trucks and station wagons. It’s why life feels more bearable on the road.”

The zaniness never ends, with their life on the road operating on as DIY a level as it gets. Picture this: four band members, sleeping on planks of wood in the back of a van, purchased on a whatsapp group chat, that has four holes the size of tennis balls in it. Quite the spectacle, that.

This somewhat ill-functioning but memorable portable home has taken them all over the country, and on wondrous adventures. They’ve camped on farms in between shows, built fires for warmth, shot air rifles for entertainment and washed in any river or lakes they could find (providing the next venue didn't have showers). Home is where the heart is, and despite its challenges, the heart is on the road.

That untamed and unpredictable nature bleeds into their live performances. The band adores crafting music, but everything about them comes alive on stage. It’s that very energy that’s seen them recently support the likes of The Amazons and Bad Nerves, in addition to selling out headline shows across London, Manchester, Paris, and Amsterdam. Provocative, strange shows in a dingy, beer soaked box is what they do best - no wonder they’ve sat safely on the summit of ‘Ones to Watch’ lists, being tipped by a plethora of tastemakers across BBC Radio 1, BBC 6Music, Clash, Dork, DIY and more. There’s nothing they won’t do to make their show as momentous as can be.

Who’ve You Come As (Part 2) is out on the 27th March 2026.

Balancing Act is:

Kai Jon Roberts (vocals), Jackson Couzens (guitar), David Carpenter (bass) and Pat Hanbury (drums).

Live Dates:

UK

April 10th - Liverpool Arts Club

April 11th - Newcastle Think Tank

April 12th - Glasgow King Tut's

April 14th - Manchester Gorilla

April 15th - Birmingham Hare & Hounds

April 16th - Leeds Key Club

April 18th - Brighton Green Door Store

April 19th - Bristol Exchange

April 21st - London The Dome

EU

April 25th - Hamburg Nochtwache

April 26th - Brussels Cirque Royal Club

April 28th - Amsterdam Cinetol

April 29th - Paris Supersonic Records