Boston-area rock quintet Mad Painter will release their third studio album, “Island Poetry,” on October 9th, 2026 via Epictronic. The album follows 2023’s “Splashed” and marks the band’s heaviest and most cohesive work to date, with the current lineup writing the bulk of the material specifically for this record.
About the Album
Where “Splashed” drew on a wider vault of older and newer material, “Island Poetry” is more focused, shaped by the current Mad Painter lineup as a unified group effort. The album’s concept centers on the image of island inhabitants gathered around a campfire on a tropical beach under a full moon, chanting and meditating in a shared communal and spiritual ritual. That imagined setting is where the album’s “poetry” originates, echoing the romantic idea of withdrawing from ordinary pressures to create freely — in the spirit of artists such as Kevin Ayers, who retreated to an island to make music at his own pace.
Musically, the album is rooted in 1970s British rock, built around Hammond organ, guitar, bass, drums, and layered vocals. Across its twelve tracks, “Island Poetry” moves through Deep Purple-inspired hard rock, Status Quo-style boogie, Rainbow-esque drama, Queen-like theatricality, Wishbone Ash-style roaming textures, Motörhead-inspired heaviness, Moody Blues / Barclay James Harvest-style art rock, and the space-disco flavor of “Nektarized.” The focus track, “Spin Your Ventilator,” delivers an energetic, unruly, double-entendre-driven hard rock attack in the spirit of Brian Johnson-era AC/DC.
The album was recorded track by track by Tom Hamilton at Lowell Street Sound in Peabody, Massachusetts, where Hamilton also handled production and mixing. The Pro Tools-based sessions were built to achieve a warm, natural, analog-style sound rather than a sterile digital polish. Six of the album’s twelve tracks feature lyrics by writer and music journalist Dmitry M. Epstein, and the record closes with a faithful interpretation of Uriah Heep’s “Circle of Hands” — a fitting finale for a band whose identity is closely tied to Hammond-driven classic rock.
Get a taste of the heavy, unruly energy of the new album and check out the single & Video “Spin Your Ventilator”.
Watch the visualizer:
About Mad Painter
Mad Painter is a Boston-area rock band devoted to the weight, color, and melodic ambition of classic 1970s rock. Led by vocalist, keyboardist, songwriter, and concept creator Alex Gitlin, the group builds its sound around roaring Hammond organ, hard-driving guitar, muscular rhythms, layered vocals, and warm analog-style production.
The band’s music draws heavily from the golden age of British hard rock, progressive rock, glam, boogie, and blues-based album rock, with Deep Purple and Uriah Heep as central reference points — particularly in the use of Hammond organ as a lead instrument rather than background texture. Elements of Rainbow, Queen, Status Quo, Wishbone Ash, Motörhead, Nektar, Moody Blues, Barclay James Harvest, AC/DC, Spooky Tooth, and Atomic Rooster also run through the band’s vocabulary.
The current recorded lineup features Alex Gitlin, drummer Al Hendry, bassist Kenne Highland, guitarist Al Naha, and backing vocalist Julie Gee, with Sharon Crumrine appearing as additional backing vocalist on “Island Poetry.” Together, they make vintage-minded music: dramatic songs, heavy riffs, melodic hooks, and expansive arrangements, played with conviction.
Follow Mad Painter’s musical odyssey:
Website: madpainter.co.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/madpainter1
X: x.com/painter_mad
Instagram: instagram.com/madpainterband
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@madpainter4010
Spotify
Epictronic 