The Broken Heartbreakers Return with Defiant New Single ‘Fuck You, Dangerous Age’, the first from a new record.
The Broken Heartbreakers Return with Defiant New Single ‘Fuck You, Dangerous Age’, the first from a new record.
November 28th, 2025
Ōtepoti/Dunedin indie-folk stalwarts The Broken Heartbreakers today release ‘Fuck You, Dangerous Age’ – their fierce, shimmering new single and the first taste of their forthcoming fifth album, their first since How we got to now in 2015, due out in 2026.
Written and primarily recorded in the band’s North East Valley home studio, ‘Fuck You, Dangerous Age’ is a slow-burning anthem for a fractured era. What begins as weary resignation – “the lies are getting bold / the bombs just keep on falling / the narrative explodes” – erupts into a communal, late-night roar of refusal. As songwriter John Howell explains:
“This isn’t a song of cynical retreat, but rather of hopeful defiance. Pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will, culminating in a late-night sing-along in the music room with the James St Community Choir.”
Long-time supporter and critic Mike Irwin calls it “a dispatch from the battlefield… a primal cry, a raw rejection… Saying ‘no’ has become a political act at the personal level.” Amid chiming guitars, layered harmonies and a driving pulse, the track mourns the personal cost of public failure – “It’s so hard to find a friend these days” – while leaving the listener with an unspoken, urgent question: What are we going to do?
Mixed by Nick Roughan at the Ōtepoti community recording studios, South Link Productions, where the band were grateful to be recipients of the extraordinary free services being offered to the public and arts community in the Otago region and beyond.
The Broken Heartbreakers – led by the songwriting partnership of Rachel Bailey and John Howell since 2002 – have spent two decades evolving from alt-country darlings to one of Aotearoa’s most enduring and emotionally fearless outfits. With four acclaimed albums behind them, hundreds of shows across multiple continents, and a revolving cast of beloved players.
Following 2021’s uplifting lockdown-inspired single ‘We’re All Looking Up’ – their first release on Nadia Reid’s Slow Time Records – ‘Fuck You, Dangerous Age’ marks a darker, more confrontational chapter, yet one still lit by the band’s trademark melodic warmth and communal spirit.
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