Someone, at some point, decided to wire a synthesizer into a punk song, and it was one of the better ideas in modern music history. We’ve heard decades of loose amalgamations since — some heavier, some weirder, some barely holding together — but fakeyourdeath bring their own distinct angle to that collision. Their mix of electronic and industrial weight with post-hardcore energy hits a specific sweet spot: heavy enough to bruise, melodic enough to stick around in your head after.
The UK duo — vocalist Candi Underwood and her bandmate — dropped “Shapeshifter” on February 6th, the first track from their second EP “(Non)entity”, set for release on March 13th, 2026. It follows their 2024 debut EP “null/void” and pushes the formula further, with production once again handled by Wayne Adams (Petbrick, Big Lad, Wasted Death).
Where the music lands sonically isn’t hard to trace — Health, Nine Inch Nails, Youth Code all sit in the DNA — but what makes “Shapeshifter” stand out is how personal it gets. This is Underwood processing years of self-erasure, people-pleasing, and second-guessing herself as a woman in rock.
“Shapeshifter is probably my boldest statement as a singer and as a woman so far in my life,” she says. “I’m now in my 30s and for the first time I can say I feel confident in where I am, what I’m doing and fundamentally who I am.”
That confidence didn’t come easy. Underwood spent years performing a version of herself she thought others wanted to see — adjusting her look, her music, her voice to fit perceptions she never fully controlled. “I was a chronic people pleaser and, being in bands all that time, that fed into my music. I felt like I had to be what people wanted in order to be respected as a musician, especially as I was already on the backfoot being a woman in rock, and I didn’t trust myself to make good decisions.”
Turning 30, paired with what she calls “a shit ton of therapy,” shifted that. Looking back, the patterns became obvious. “Shapeshifter is a celebration of that journey; from seeing the pain I was in to finally breaking free from my own shackles at the end. I was the shapeshifter. It had always been me holding myself back.”
Lyrically, one line in particular captures it: “I’m alive, but barely breathing.” As Underwood puts it, “this sums up exactly how I see those years. Were they wasted? Maybe. But I didn’t know how much I was struggling until I went through to the other side.”
Vocally, the track marks a shift too. More singing sits alongside the screaming now, with quick switches between the two and what Underwood describes as “weird spaces in between.” She’s self-admittedly nerdy about vocal anatomy and tone — layering and shaping her voice to sound deliberately broken, mirroring the lyrics. There’s also a spoken section she’s particularly fond of, calling it “this soliloquy of hope. It felt different for us and I felt really creatively free when writing it.”
The visuals match that intent. The music video, created with Ian Coulson and David Gregory, uses CCTV aesthetics and represents Underwood as a literal, physical shapeshifter. The artwork, by Illwookie, plays with layering and shapes in a similar vein. All three have been with fakeyourdeath since the start. “During the planning stages we talk about the songs and how they are emotionally shaped and then we collaboratively come up with these concepts and they execute them,” Underwood explains. “They are just really amazing at what they do and we’re lucky to have them work with us.”
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For context: fakeyourdeath’s debut EP tracks landed on the official Kerrang! chart, Knotfest’s “Pulse Of The Maggots” playlist, and Metal Hammer’s “Best New Songs You Need To Hear Right Now.”
They were featured artist of the week on Alex Baker’s Fresh Blood show on Kerrang! Radio, track of the week on BBC Introducing Rock on Radio 1 with Alyx Holcombe, and received Total Rock’s debut single of the year award. Metal Hammer included them in their “Best Metal Songs of the Year 2023” roundup.
Since then, they’ve released remixes with Copse, 601, Death Goals, El Moono, and Tayne — also featured on Kerrang! — with more collaborations lined up for this year.
Live, they’ve shared stages with Empire State Bastard, Youth Code, Lake Malice, Graphic Nature, Saint Agnes, Zand, Frontierer, The St Pierre Snake Invasion, and Tokky Horror, and appeared at Noizzefest and Arctangent Festival.
“Writing this single felt like something new for fakeyourdeath and for me,” Underwood says. “I’m not afraid and I’m embracing my voice. It took a while but I got there in the end.”
