hairpin’s new single starts in a boxing ring. “Meet me in the ring, ready for another round,” Adam Edwards sings, “winded by your words, hoping they knock me out.” The fight is rhetorical: Edwards is mapping the futility of arguing with someone who’s already decided they’ve won.
“Framing” is hairpin’s first single since their debut EP “Modern Day Living” came out in April 2025, and the first to feature Callan Milward on drums. The EP had Jack Kenny (Milk Teeth, Jaguar Throne, Nervus) playing drums in the studio, but that was a studio-only arrangement. Milward, who came up playing hardcore, joined when the band decided they wanted to play live and tour. Perry Sears, on guitar, also has roots in hardcore bands.
The track was recorded and mixed at Community Noise, the studio Edwards opened in Dorset at the end of 2023. It’s where the band practise, record, and film their videos, including the clips for “Curtain Call” and the new single. Brad Boatright mastered the track at Audiosiege. Edwards handled the artwork and layout himself.
For Edwards, “Framing” sits in the middle of what hairpin do. “I’m a fan of both those genres and like the contrast when they’re brought together,” he says of pairing power pop with hardcore. “I think Angel Du$t has pulled that off extremely well, and what they do has had an impact on how I think about songwriting.” Sears and Milward bring the hardcore energy. Edwards writes toward the hooks.
The lyric the song keeps returning to is “Why do these words always fall on deaf ears?”. The second verse delivers what could double as the song’s thesis: “Context is dead. Raise your glass.” Edwards uses a boxing or wrestling ring as the setting for an argument that isn’t really one.
“I used the metaphor of an undefeated opponent in a wrestling / boxing ring because I thought it fit the combative nature of a one-sided argument, where the listener is being pummelled into submission by opposing opinions,” he says. “Disregarding context and any desire for discussion leads to the equivalent of characters trash talking each other with hyperbole, similar to watching a preview for a pay per view.”
Edwards has also put together a video deep dive on “Framing” that sits alongside the official music video.
“Nuance has become a casualty of modern discourse,” Edwards adds. “People pick their team, adopt the positions wholesale, and bend themselves out of shape to defend it, with no desire for discussion.”
DIY shows up at every level of how hairpin work.
The band own and operate the room where the song was made. Edwards designed the artwork. “A DIY approach might be born out of necessity,” he says, “but it also functions as a way to learn new skills. Landing dates on a tour you’ve slogged over booking, or a feature off the back of a press release you’ve written, can feel really rewarding.”
The band have spent the last twelve months writing and recording new songs.
UK dates are booked, including a support slot for Glitterer at The Croft in Bristol (see the flyer below).
Earlier coverage placed them across overlapping audiences: Noizze called them “a worthy modern addition to the DIY emo and post-hardcore scene, whilst also staying true to the genre’s roots and sensibilities,” New Noise Magazine wrote that they “lean more closely toward a true punk sound, albeit in a modern context,” and From The Strait noted that “this compelling sound and style appeals to the heavy music fans, the indie rock fans, and everyone in between.”
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“Framing” was released on 29 May 2026 and is available via Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal.
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hairpin is Perry Sears, Adam Edwards, Sam Marsh, and Callan Milward.
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