Bad//Dreems are returning in the new year with Ultra Dundee, their fifth studio album and a natural progression from the vision introduced on their seminal debut, Dogs at Bay.

Due out Friday, March 20th via their own record label Gutto Records, the album is led by its title track, out today as a single.

Bad//Dreems have never shied away from their unfettered exploration of the Australian character. More often than not, their focus is drawn to the weird, uncomfortable or sinister themes which underpin modern Australia, but are often left unexplored – “Ultra Dundee” is no exception.

“What’s my name, tell me what’s my name?” asks vocalist Ben Marwe as he shapeshifts through a litany of characters on a hypersonic journey through Australian history, geography and urban mythology. It’s a portrait of our culture that is, like the best of Bad//Dreems songs, as invigorating as it is unsettling.

Recorded earlier this year and produced in conjunction with Dan Luscombe, who has also worked with the likes of Amyl and the Sniffers and Courtney Barnett, at Mixmasters Studios in Adelaide, it follows on from last month’s release, “Shadowland”.

The music video for the album’s title track was filmed at the Lower Light pub on the northern outskirts of Adelaide. Directed by Kaius Potter, it is the second instalment in a series of clips which will comprise a short film based around the character, Ultra Dundee, played by Marwe.

To celebrate the album’s release next year, the band are heading off for another round of high energy, sweaty shows. They’ll kick off at Melbourne’s Thornbury Theatre on Saturday, April 18th, before playing Sydney’s Marrickville Bowlo on May 1st and Brisbane’s Brightside Outdoors on May 2nd.

The new shows follow a massive 2025 tour schedule, where Bad//Dreems celebrated Dogs at Bay‘s tenth anniversary, and now continue to support Grinspoon on their national ’30th Birthday Bonanza’.

Plus, they’re cooking up something special for a hometown show in Adelaide, to be announced soon.

Tickets will go on sale at 1oam (AEDT) on Friday, December 12th. Presale will run from 10am (AEDT) on Thursday, December 11th.

You can also catch them performing at Party In The Paddock in Tasmania, headlining Nice Day to Go to the Club festival in South Australia, and at the remaining Grinspoon anniversary shows in December.

Revered as one of the most vital guitar acts in the country, Bad//Dreems have come a long way from their humble origins in an Adelaide whitegoods warehouse in 2012.

Produced by Mark Opitz (AC/DC, INXS, Cold Chisel, The Angels, Divinyls), their debut album Dogs At Bay picked up nominations for an AIR Award (2015), National Live Music Award (2015), SA Music Awards’ Best Live Act (2015), SA Music Awards’ Best Release and Best Group (2016) and was included as an honourable mention in Rolling Stone AU/NZ’s Greatest Australian Albums of All Time list in 2021.

They drew plaudits from such diverse luminaries as The Avalanches and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (At the Drive In) both of whom chose the band as their Australian support act. Robert Forster of The Go-Betweens declared their song “My Only Friend” “a masterpiece of Australian rock”.

The band followed this up with critically acclaimed albums, Gutful, Doomsday Ballet, and Hoo Ha!, the latter of which garnered a nominated for ARIA’s Best Rock Album, placed at No. 2 on Double J’s 50 Best Albums of the Year and earned them a nomination for Double J Artist of the Year.

Bad//Dreems’ “Ultra Dundee” is out now. The album is also now available to preorder. 

BAD//DREEMS PRESENT ULTRA DUNDEE 2026

Saturday, April 18th
Thornbury Theatre, Melbourne VIC

Friday, May 1st
Marrickville Bowlo, Sydney NSW

Saturday, May 2nd
Brightside Outdoors, Brisbane QLD