Balancing Act are turning up the drama. The Manchester-via-London theatrical misfits have unleashed “Loaded With Pearls,” a high-octane new single slathered in swaggering bravado, off their debut album ‘Who’ve You Come As? (Part 2),’ out now. The record follows Part 1, released in October 2025 to critical acclaim from tastemakers across the board.
The band knew exactly what they were chasing. “We wanted to achieve something very rhythmic and dynamic with this track,” they explain. “It started out as a sort of blues tinged desert rock groove that was inspired by Kai taking a drive from LA to Palm Springs, the verses stutter and strut their way along before you get a punch in the face chorus that we hoped would stick in people’s heads for a while. In a nutshell, it’s Trip Hop meets Stadium Rock all packed into under 3 minutes.”
Vocalist Kai Jon Roberts describes this second half as “a Jack Russell on a lead that has no patience,” pulling the sound in a new direction at an unsettling pace. Part 2 sees the band at their most playful and personal, refusing to be confined to one sonic space while keeping their tongue-in-cheek charm front and center.
Since forming in 2022, Balancing Act have built a world of nonsensical grandeur, basking in Tim Burton’s gothic allure while drawing on Father John Misty, The MarÃas, Richard Hawley, and The Walkmen. Most of both album halves were created at Allouette, a writing retreat studio in the western French countryside, with Kai’s lifelong musical partner Joe Woolf, before being shaped into a grander product by Dave Bardon and Oscar ‘Sholto’ Robertson of SFJ in East London.
Theatrics run through the band’s DNA, and that untamed energy bleeds into their live shows, which have seen them support The Amazons and Bad Nerves and sell out headline gigs across London, Manchester, Paris, and Amsterdam. Tipped across BBC Radio 1, BBC 6Music, Clash, Dork, and DIY, they’ve earned their spot atop plenty of ‘Ones to Watch’ lists, and there’s nothing they won’t do to make a show momentous.