Brisbane shoegaze band Fragile Animals have released their new EP, ‘Dead Stop’.

The six-track release was produced by Elliot Heinrich and follows the band’s 2025 EP ‘Tourist’. It was written after a busy period for the band, including their first UK and European tour, a 14-date run across Germany, Poland, Ireland, England and Scotland.

‘Dead Stop’ reflects the difficult comedown after that momentum. The EP deals with pressure, exhaustion and the decision to keep going after a breakthrough moment. The band’s sound remains rooted in shoegaze, dream pop and alternative rock, with heavy guitars, clear melodies and Victoria Jenkins’ voice at the centre.

Jenkins says: “I think this record means something slightly different to each of us, but there’s also a commonality there that relates to us all making the commitment to take another step forward.

Personally, I actually find it hard to articulate what this record is about and what it means to me. I think that’s because, truthfully, it was written in a profound state of confusion and the tangled mess of feelings that it carries are just as confusing now as they were then.

We started writing this EP immediately after we wrapped up touring ‘Tourist’ last year. We’d just lived a dream. I’d never loved doing anything so much or felt more like my true self. At the same time I’d never felt so frayed or fragile. The risks and sacrifices it took to make that record and tour happen really shook me, and it wasn’t until it was all over and we were sitting in a hotel in Manchester trying to write a new record that I kind of fell apart. Anyone walking around near John Rylands Library last August might have actually seen me crying in the street. Haha. The weird part is that when I wasn’t waking up in a panic or crying in public I felt insanely happy. I was really proud of what we’d just pulled off as an independent band and I loved the music we were writing. I felt like if we could just keep ourselves moving, and cross our fingers hard enough to prevent the world falling apart around us, we might actually get everything we wanted. If I’m honest, I’ve spent the last year trying to keep my terror in a box so that I can keep moving. That’s what this record is for me.”

Fragile Animals are Victoria Jenkins on vocals and bass, Daniel Parkinson on guitar, Harley Jones on guitar and Dylan Stewart on drums. The EP is followed by UK and European dates in June and July 2026, including appearances at Farewell Youth Festival in Dresden and Drop The Knife Festival in Solingen.

Headline photo: Kelsey Doyle

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Fragile Animals