Sarah Meth details debut album Something Shameful

London-born artist Sarah Meth will release her debut full-length, Something Shameful, on October 30 via her own imprint, Wishbone. She has shared the lead single, "Don't Touch Me You're My Hero," alongside a video featuring Charlie Forbes of Shame and Louis O'Bryen and Lincoln Barrett of Sorry.

Meth grew up on classical and choral music before training at the BRIT School alongside alumni including Black Midi, Olivia Dean and Lola Young. She built her early profile on the underground label Slow Dance and by hosting her own Wishbone nights, inviting collaborators such as Tyler Hyde of Black Country, New Road and former Black Midi member Cameron Picton to perform alongside her.

Most of the album's characters, she said, are people she met on a 2024 trip to New York, taken alone after a trip companion backed out at the last minute. "I ended up meeting so many people that week who became, at different points over the years, main characters in my life," Meth said. "It was special being somewhere new, meeting that version of myself outside of London." The songs were recorded partly at 4AD's London studio with engineer Fabian Prynn and partly on a laptop in Meth's South London bedroom with Sorry's O'Bryen.

Lead single "Don't Touch Me You're My Hero" turns industry tropes on their head, offering what Meth calls her take on "the experiences of women in the music industry." She said the culture around music "doesn't seem to be improving" for young female artists, and that "turning uncomfortable feelings and situations into something I can be playful with gives me a sense of agency."

Ahead of the album's release, Meth will play UK dates with Lowertown and Mary In The Junkyard, and has an appearance booked at Pitchfork London in November. Something Shameful joins the release calendar as one of the fall's more anticipated indie debuts.