ALT BLK ERA drop ‘Silhouettes In The Mirror,’ the final single before their ‘Our World’ EP arrives May 22 via LAB Records
ALT BLK ERA are not interested in looking away. The Nottingham sister duo, Nyrobi and Chaya Beckett-Messam, have shared “Silhouettes In The Mirror,” the final single before their Our World EP arrives on May 22 via LAB Records. It is a song written from inside the weight of the current moment, a response to violence, injustice, and the quiet ways that a destabilised world reshapes the people living inside it. For a duo that won the MOBO Award for Best Alternative Music Act in 2025 and debuted their debut album Rave Immortal at No. 1 on the Official UK Rock and Metal Albums Chart, the stakes are high. The new single confirms they are not coasting on the momentum.
Nyrobi, 21, spoke directly about the song’s origins. “We wrote this song because the level of violence and injustice we are witnessing feels so disorientating,” she said. “The chaos and turmoil has an impact on all of us and we have to ask what have we become as a people? ‘Silhouettes In The Mirror’ shows how this exposure shapes us and how it leads us to see distorted reflections of ourselves because of the impact of a distorted world.” That is not a thesis statement dressed up in press release language. It is the actual subject of the song, and the production around it, fusing alt-rock intensity with high-energy electronica, has the force to carry it.
An EP Built Around the Weight of Now
Our World is the first body of work from ALT BLK ERA since Rave Immortal, and Chaya has described the EP’s tracklist as a kind of emotional map for navigating the present. “It tells the story of our feelings in this moment, when there are so many shocking and devastating world events,” she said. “The first tracks reflect our struggle to process the overwhelm: ‘Tissues‘ explores sadness and grief, while ‘Lost In The Back Of My Mind‘ captures the desire to escape reality. ‘Silhouettes In The Mirror’ confronts our new identities in this world, and ‘Okay (Cyber Racing)‘ expresses our need to feel joy, even if just for a moment so we can leave our worries behind.”
The sequencing matters here. This is not a record that pretends its way through the darkness into an easy resolution. It tracks the full arc, from grief through escapism through confrontation and finally into the release of joy. “Okay (Cyber Racing),” the track that closes the EP’s emotional logic, leans hard into the duo’s electronic instincts, blending glitch-heavy production, fuzzy bass, and driving guitar lines with a chorus built to be repeated in a crowd.
Beyond the Music
ALT BLK ERA are also carrying a larger conversation into their work. Nyrobi lives with ME/CFS and has been collaborating with BBC Introducing on initiatives to create accessible backstage environments for artists with disabilities at festivals. The duo champion hidden disability awareness throughout the industry, a commitment that has become part of the ALT BLK ERA identity as much as the music itself.
Rock Sound described them as “one of the most exciting British rock acts,” and Kerrang! credited them with “redefining alternative music.” Both assessments look more accurate now than when they were written. A UK headline tour kicks off May 21, opening at London’s O2 Academy Islington before dates in Leeds, Glasgow, Manchester, Bristol, and a homecoming show at Nottingham Rescue Rooms on May 30. “Silhouettes In The Mirror” is out now. Our World follows on May 22.
