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MARY IN THE JUNKYARD

Role Model Hermit
(AMF Records)
Add date: 7.14.2026
Release date: 7.3.2026




Role Model Hermit, the debut album from mary in the junkyard, is one of the most enticing British debut albums in recent memory: a blend of dark fables, intricate melodies and moments of revelation. It is an album that finds the critically acclaimed band comprised of Clari Freeman-Taylor (vocals, guitar, cello, viola, violin), Saya Barbaglia (Bass, viola, violin, backing vocals), and David Addison (drums), fully-realise their creative ambitions crafting an original work that is a world in itself and an expression of true creativity.

Throughout their early life as a band mary in the junkyard have always had a quiet power in their convictions, trusting in their listeners to follow them down the rabbit holes they create. This is a band who placed a yeti in the second room of London rave mecca Corsica Studios as they brought their Richard Russell produced 2023 debut EP This Old House into the real world, a band who immediately began road testing their expansive material for their debut album at DIY shows even as people had only just begun to figure them out. Their belief in their convictions has already been rewarded, with the band receiving support across music and fashion press, as well as securing key sessions with KEXP over in the US.

Recorded in London in August 2025 with producer Oli Bayston, Role Model Hermit combines all their experience to create something that is not only fantastical but contains a real sense of bite and moments of poignancy. Beginning with the hypnotic opening breath of “Mantra III” the album immediately feels like a work of originality. Freeman-Taylor intones the refrain of “this is yours babe, you deserve it” over hand drums and Barbaglia’s mazy strings, a moment of reflection on creating the biggest moment of their career. An act of self belief before the leap of faith.

Freeman-Taylor says, “making this album was a big deal, and we had been given this opportunity that we’d worked really hard towards. It felt really important to have a space to prepare myself and everyone before going into the album”.

“Mantra III” segues straight into “Blood” a sinuous and punchy track that documents a tale of new love from a skewed perspective. Barbaglia says, “I know Clari so well that I could feel the change within her; this vocal could have only been recorded in that moment”. It’s a moment of artful intricacy and connection that emphasises what makes mary in the junkyard such a unique band.

The band’s sense of self has only grown with the completion of mammoth tours across the UK, Europe and North America - including a full two months spent over in the States with Wet Leg. Where some bands can crack at this point, the group's bond only grew stronger with Freeman-Taylor, Barbaglia and Addison now sharing a singular focus and powerful commitment to one another - with the band now living together - though some downsides are explored on the spellbinding track “Welcome Break”.

It was during their first trip to America in 2024 that the band began to write new songs that would make their way onto Role Model Hermit. Having arrived in New York City, with no set plan, no place to stay and a completely open itinerary, the band were throwing caution to the wind. “I had a sense of belief that we would find somewhere”, says Barbaglia.

The band performed a show that night befriending a local artist called Todd. Todd offered them a place to stay and also a studio space that the band could write from over the next few days. He also asked if they could perform a private concert for his partner and some of their friends in the art world. Freeman-Taylor says, “we are each other's best touring companions ever, as we always end up in the greatest of places”. This trip also led to a meeting with Wet Leg, who then took the band on a three month tour of the US in late 2025.

Whilst this would be daunting to the majority of people, the band relished the challenge and jumped once again into the unknown. The band won over the crowd, impressing Todd and his partner, revealed to be iconic performance artist Marina Abramovic. A guest at the concert was blown away and gifted the band an effects pedal that became a key element to two of the albums core tracks “Crash Landing” and “Mouse”.

While coming from an adventurous place, “Crash Landing” is one of the most heartbreaking tracks mary in the junkyard have written to date: a winding, spaced out track about the end of a relationship and toxic masculinity.

Freeman-Taylor says, “It's about fear and how men often rely on keeping their emotions secret, and how you have to crack them open. To be the only one that’s seeing one side of someone, it’s trapping”.

“Mouse” is another key moment, a fusion of the band's fantastical story telling with hard hitting themes of reconnecting with a person you abandoned in a former life. “I went to Iceland and became obsessed with the ocean”, says Freeman-Taylor. “I remembered that I was a fisherman in a former life with a mouse in my pocket, who was lost in a storm. It is about me reconnecting with the mouse when they have taken on a human form in this life”. While this sounds far out, the sense of emotion is palpable with Addison, Freeman-Taylor and Barbaglia creating a track that swells like tempestuous waves.

There are moments of levity on Role Model Hermit, with “New Muscles” also showing that the band can do something carefree and loose-limbed. Riding on a triphop drumbeat the song is an ode to self-improvement that is equal parts endearing and catchy, highlighting the sense of invention that permeates through the album.

The album comes full circle with the hushed “Candelabra”, a moment of pure beauty that was one of the first ever mary in the junkyard songs. Written when Freeman-Taylor was seventeen, it underlines her ability to create something universal out of the smallest fragment.

“Thou Shalt Sprout” is the maximalist flip side, a barrage of strings composed by Freeman-Taylor and Barbaglia set to an ancient folk tale of a father risking his limbs to feed his family. Again, there is a real-life edge to this fable, with Freeman-Taylor realising after recording the song that it was inspired by her father’s job causing him to miss times at home with her and her sister.

Throughout its runtime Role Model Hermit walks this line between fact and fiction, an album where reality always creeps into the phantasmagoric. It is a debut album the band are deeply proud of. Role Model Hermit is set to showcase how truly special mary in the junkyard really are.