Alberta Cross Wrestle With Uncertainty With New Song ‘Toy Soldiers’ ::antiMusic.com

Official Announcement | Published: Jan 23, 2026 11:25 AM EST

(Memphia Music) Alberta Cross are pleased to announce the release of ‘Toy Soldiers’, their latest single and first new music of 2026, released today, January 23rd 2026, taken from a longer body of material, with further details to be announced in the coming months.

Produced by Luke Potashnick (The Temperance Movement) at Wool Hall Studios, ‘Toy Soldiers’ is a seductive rhythmic assault that sees Alberta Cross at their most frenetic and loose. Rapid, jagged keys and hypnotic guitars ride over tight drums, a rowdy but controlled track that serves as an anthem of hope and possibility amidst a world of uncertainty.

Discussing the lyrical themes behind the single, vocalist and lyricist Petter Ericson Stakee says: “There’s a heaviness running through the track, but it wasn’t something we chased – it’s just the world bleeding into the music. The song wrestles with uncertainty, but it doesn’t fake solutions. Recorded as a raw power trio with members from The Vaccines and The Temperance Movement at the legendary Wool Hall Studios (The Smiths, Tears For Fears).”

Alberta Cross are an Anglo-Swedish band formed in London and led by songwriter Petter Ericson Stakee. After a long stretch living in Brooklyn, New York, the project has since settled back in the UK. They signed to Fiction Records in the UK and Geffen in the US after just four shows, a rapid ascent that set the tone for a career built on relentless touring and slow-burn cult appeal. Along the way, Alberta Cross have shared stages with artists ranging from Oasis and Neil Young to Them Crooked Vultures, The Shins, Portugal. The Man, Mumford & Sons and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, while clocking appearances at festivals including Coachella, Glastonbury, Bonnaroo, Fuji Rock, Reading & Leeds and Splendour In The Grass.

Their songs have travelled just as widely, appearing across TV, film and games – from Californication and Sons of Anarchy to Dirty Sexy Money, CSI, Hawaii Five-0, A Million Little Things and Longmire, as well as Madden NFL and live performances on The Late Show with David Letterman, Last Call with Carson Daly and more. Alberta Cross have built a reputation for widescreen, road-worn songs that sit somewhere between American myth and European melancholy, earning a long-standing cult following on both sides of the Atlantic and have earned praise from the likes of Rolling Stone, Billboard, NPR, UNCUT, MOJO, NME, BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 6 and more.