The New Atomic
Award winning Leeds-based ensemble Ferg’s Imaginary Big Band return with their raucous third album The New Atomic – a bold statement in 21st-century big band music.
About the album
Award winning Leeds-based ensemble Ferg’s Imaginary Big Band return with their raucous third album The New Atomic – a bold statement in 21st-century big band music. Known for explosive live performances and a roster that often swells to 25+ players, the band channels the energy of classic swing orchestras while infusing it with punk ethos, contemporary experimentalism, and a distinctly political edge
The New Atomic is set for release on June 26th, 2026 via Trash City Records.
The album title and cover reference Count Basie’s 1958 Atomic Mr. Basie, drawing parallels between the raw power of Basie’s band and the urgent sound of Ferg’s Imaginary Big Band today. While Basie’s record celebrated technical prowess and American dominance in the atomic age, The New Atomic reinterprets that imagery to reflect contemporary tensions: the ways in which power and wealth are hoarded, and the societal forces that limit freedom rather than protect it. A portion of the album’s profits will go to War Child, supporting children affected by conflict worldwide.
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Musically, The New Atomic is a big band on a rollercoaster through jazz, noise, and pop culture chaos. Ellington and Sun Ra meet Godzilla, Japanese monster movies, early Bluegrass field recordings, Harmelodics, old samplers, Sunn O amps, and Boredoms – all delivered with a palpable sense of community and joy. From Fergus Quill and Sam Eastmond’s soaring ‘J Surfing on Saturn’ to pianist Nico Widdowson’s free-time romp on the title track, the album jumps between raw swing, anarchic textures, and joyous absurdity, proving big band music can still bite, roar, and make you laugh.
Ferg’s Imaginary Big Band grew from a nine-piece Sun Ra tribute in Leeds into a veritable institution of northern UK jazz, drawing members from groups including Awen Ensemble, Ancient Infinity Orchestra, Plantfood, and KOG. Their 2023 eponymous debut, 2024 release Live at Lancaster Jazz Festival and 2025 national tour included performances at Ronnie Scott’s, The Vortex, Howard Assembly Rooms, and major UK festivals. Celebrated for championing risk, immediacy, and individuality, the ensemble won the 2023 Peter Whittingham Jazz Award and were nominated for the 2025 Jazz FM Innovation Award, cementing their place at the forefront of UK big band music.
With The New Atomic, Ferg’s Imaginary Big Band delivers a record that is both reverent and confrontational: a big band that refuses to be a relic, mixing tradition, experimentation, and pointed social commentary into music that is unapologetically alive.
Press quotes
“A stunning showcase of creativity and musicianship restlessly reinterpreting the possibilities of a big ensemble jazz, replete with respectful echoes of Sun Ra, Carla Bley, Keith Tippett and Mike Westbrook.”Jazzwise · UK
“a soundtrack to a stroll by a destructive monster, with a narrator for emphasis and dropping into thrash metal with distortion and shouted exhortations.”
“an outstanding big-band album of the highest class, one that invites repeated and intensive listening.”
“The collective spirit and the fun are palpable. Brilliantly imagined!”
“Under the direction of composer and bandleader Fergus Quill, the band provides proof of how opulence, force and eccentricity can lead to exquisite works of art.”
“When swing first appeared in 1935, long before Glenn Miller defanged it, Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa electrified Los Angeles and created hysteria, one of the first youth cultures. Ferg’s Imaginary Big Band translate that excitement to 21st century Britain.”
“who has ever had the balls to do the Civil Rights anthem “I Shall Not Be Moved” with such daring, adventurism, eclectic ballsiness and sheer bravado?”
“A wildly inventive big band album blending jazz, noise, folk and British humor, Ferg’s Imaginary Big Band delivers a fearless and imaginative take on contemporary large ensemble music.”
“The New Atomic keeps big-band tradition in plain sight, then keeps tilting it until it becomes something both familiar and slightly unhinged.”
“Incredibly engaging and beaming with creativity and imagination, Fergus Quill’s quest to reinvent the big band aesthetic has taken a considerably large step forward.”
“The New Atomic provokes as much as it comforts, offering an exploratory, genre-defying repertoire that is unapologetically contemporary and rambunctious while remaining deeply respectful of the past.”
“Ferg’s Imaginary Big Band is a great live band, but the variety and the great playing on this album re-captures that live feeling. It is an important release.”
“This is a Big Band who are on the move together, edgy, political and fiercely independent. They make noise which shouldn’t be ignored.”
“The greater the apparent chaos, the greater the fun, yet everything remains surprisingly tight and swinging.”
“More than a simple record release, this work seems to propose itself as a collective manifesto: noisy, communal, at times absurd and profoundly contemporary.”
““The New Atomic” is undoubtedly impressive: with its power and diversity, emotional message and sophistication.”
“bandleader played with colors like an expressionist painter and pours ideas out of his sleeve.”
“A solid vitamin injection of a record release, with a lot of madness and magnificent drive.”
“From 25 hearts that clearly enjoyed every second during the recordings. A top-class banger.”
“Forward with full energy and vigor! Crazy and spectacular at the same time! Great!!!”
“It’s loud, it’s huge and it’s shameless.”
“As an initial outing, Ferg should be proud as should the myriad players. It must be fantastic live; but for now, enjoy The New Atomic your own home.”
“a memorable journey.”
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