A New Nature

In early 2014, the band left Matador Records and made their own label Nostromo Records. They pledged on PledgeMusic, which is an online Direct-to-Fan music platform that facilitates musicians reaching out to their fanbase to pre-sell, market, and distribute music projects including recordings, music videos, and concerts. On PledgeMusic they put pre-orders for their third album up, in which some include a hand-made bonus EP called And New Life Blossoms From the Ruins, and the money went towards the recording costs.[6]

On April 7, 2014, they released an untitled split EP with Thought Forms, featuring two songs "No Dog" and "Butoh".[7] On April 7, they performed "No Dog" and two new songs "Dig Your Fingers In" and "Those Dreaful Hammers" on BBC Radio 6.[8] They began recording with Steve Albini in April 2014 at Electrical Audio studios in Chicago.[9][10] Their song "Strangers In a Sunless Valley" was featured on the third Audioscope Music For A Good Home compilation in May.[11]

They announced the album in June 2014, and have released the first single from the album, "Blood Teachings", on iTunes. The album was scheduled to be released on 1 September 2014.

The Guardian compared lead single "Blood Teachings" to early PJ Harvey.[12] The Quietus said that ""Blood Teachings" is a good case in point, with its Swans-esque heaving repetition providing a soundbed over which Rachel Davies unfurls a mesmeric vocal, not dissimilar to former Albini collaborator PJ Harvey, building to a razing, fuzzed crescendo."[13]

The band said of the album:

"We wanted to create a record that had a level of purity to it. To strip away the layers and loops and see what lay beneath. To keep things naked, unadorned and raw. The three of us, in a room, making noise. We looked to create a more primal record, full of human emotion and sonic intensity. Drawing on themes of endurance, strength, determination and self-actualisation. Themes that have always inspired us but perhaps, only now, a few years down the line, a few years of touring under our belts, we feel we have the confidence and maturity to explore and shout about."[10]