Since forming in 2014, Jae Matthews and Augustus Muller have cultivated one of electronic music’s most devoted cult followings as BOY HARSHER.
Starting with the minimal synth of their debut EP ‘Lesser Man’, the duo steadily expanded darkwave’s parameters via the ‘Yr Body Is Nothing’ album and 2019’s masterful ‘Careful’.
By the time 2022’s film soundtrack project ‘The Runner’ arrived, their trademark blend of hypnotic synths, EBM-inflected rhythms and Matthews’ magnetic vocals had successfully crossed over from shadowy underground dens to global festival stages. Yet, following years of relentless touring, BOY HARSHER faced the ultimate threat to their existence, the romantic disintegration of Matthews and Muller themselves.
Photo by Nathaniel Jerome
Written during the aftermath of their break-up as Matthews took to the open road across North America, their latest offering ‘Get Mean’ emerges as a surprisingly cathartic redemption record. It is an electronic meditation on heartbreak, dislocation and eventual dancefloor survival. Across 12 tracks, Muller and Matthews expand their palette well beyond standard coldwave tropes, integrating detuned pads, mobile voice notes and even post-punk guitar textures into their sinister machinery.
The NEW ORDER inspired brightness of lead single ‘Jeans’ offers a loose, surprisingly upbeat moment for the pair. Taking aim at Americana tropes and gig-economy alienation, its synthpop sheen acts as a Trojan horse for Matthews’ wry reflections on youthful ambition in an attack on the fashion industry.
Elsewhere, ‘Tough Luck (When You Don’t Call)’ pushes into heart-on-sleeve territory. Driven by shimmering disco beats and chorus-heavy guitars that echo THE CURE between days, it sets an intentionally jarring backdrop for Matthews’ heartbroken drawl. The tension between euphoric synth lines and devastating vulnerability makes it a compelling pop moment. Those six string interventions appear again on ‘Ice Pick (Walk Away)’ and ‘Coming Home’.
The duo’s classic darker electronic urgency remains intact though as the brilliant ‘Hard Beat’ does precisely what it says on the tin, channelling devious body energy to propel the shady austerity of the band’s past into freaky deviant disco. With Matthews exclaiming “I feel high / when the lights are low”, it captures a raw, sweat-soaked catharsis. However, as ‘Faulty’ also offers more archetypal BOY HARSHER, ‘Pray 4 Me’ surprises in its laid back tone that could almost be FLEETWOOD MAC despite the introspection.
‘Break Me’ adds some boisterous gothic tension while the brooding ‘Bleed’ ends the album with a haunted emotional reality. Far from being a tedious break-up pity party, ‘Get Mean’ mourns, flirts and dances its way out of personal crisis. Muller’s meticulous electronic production balances diamond-dense sequencing with hazy atmospheres, allowing Matthews’ vocal delivery to feel both fragile and defiantly reclaimed.
Ultimately, ‘Get Mean’ stands as BOY HARSHER’s most musically diverse statement to date. By turning romantic collapse into a transportive multi-textured travelogue, Matthews and Muller prove that the creative arc often blooms from the deepest, darkest heartbreaks.
‘Get Mean’ is released by Atlantic Records on 18th September 2026
BOY HARSHER 2026 live dates:
Hudson Basilica (25th September), Boston Royale (27th September), Montreal MTELUS (29th September), Toronto Danforth Music Hall (30th September), Detroit Majestic (1st October), Chicago Metro (2nd October), Chicago Metro (3rd October), Minneapolis Varsity Theater (4th October), Denver Summit (6th October), Portland Revolution Hall (9th October), Portland Revolution Hall (10th October), Seattle The Showbox (11th October), Seattle The Showbox (12th October), Vancouver The Pearl (13th October), Oakland Fox Theater (15th October), Los Angeles Hollywood Palladium (16th October), Del Mar The Sound (17th October), Santa Ana The Observatory Festival Grounds (18th October), Las Vegas House of Blues (20th October), Phoenix Van Buren (21nd October), Fort Worth Sick New World (24th October), New Orleans Republic (26 h October), Atlanta Variety Playhouse (27th October), Asheville The Orange Peel (28th October), Washington The Howard Theatre (30th October), Philadelphia Making Time (31st October), New York Knockdown Center (5th November), Lyon Le Transbordeur (14th November), Paris Bataclan (15th November), Strasbourg La Laiterie (16th November), Frankfurt Zoom (17th November), Lausanne Docks (18th November), Munich Kesselhaus (19th November), Vienna Ottakringer Brauerei (20th November), Leipzig Felsenkeller (21st November), Berlin Columbiahalle (22nd November), Hamburg Gruenspan (24th November), Cologne Essigfabrik (25th November), Amsterdam Paradiso (26th November), Lille L’Aéronef (27th November), Nantes Warehouse (28th November), London Roundhouse (29th November), Manchester Ritz (1st December), Glasgow SWG3 TV Studio (2nd December), Bristol Electric (3rd December), Antwerp De Roma (4th December)
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Text by Chi Ming Lai
17th September 2026
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