Norwich Folk-Grunge pioneers Takeda return with ‘Lion’s Den’ on September 25th 2026, their most visceral single to date. The track is the first to be taken from the band’s forthcoming second studio album, which arrives in 2027 via Drongo Records.
Since forming in 2022, Takeda have forged a distinctive sound built from unlikely contrasts: intricate folk, Bert Janch-influenced fingerpick guitar set against crushing riffs, fuzz drenched guitars and heavy breakdowns, marrying authentic British and American folk sounds and techniques with heavy rock and grunge. The result is music that is difficult to categorise – and deliberately so, breaking ground in a way that’s not been done before.
“When we are arranging songs together, the moment we are able to firmly pin something we are doing to somebody else’s music, we tend to suddenly feel disinterested and the song usually gets binned,” says vocalist and songwriter Josh Harrison. “We are pretty thirsty to sound like nothing but Takeda.”
Years spent in a doomsday cult coloured Harrison’s imagery and deeply informed Takeda’s music. Their debut album ‘In Venus’ Train’ chronicled the painful process of breaking away from that past whilst Lion’s Den looks beyond the escape itself, and instead confronts the anger, resentment and sense of manipulation and betrayal left in its wake.
Produced by David Pye (Shaking Hand, Szun Waves, Trudy & the Romance, Faithless, Dido), and featuring additional vocals from Raya Mhari-Iglesias (Birdwitch), Lion’s Den channels that anger into one of Takeda’s most direct and emotionally charged recordings yet.
On the track, vocalist and lyricist Josh Harrison explains, “I’ve never written a song in anger before. But Lion’s Den came to me slowly and bubbling up in me. Untangling it as I wrote it was like opening the tap on some pressurised anger in me. The betrayal and manipulation, the resentment I’d kept bundled and caged up disguised as shame. This song became the release for all of that, and letting it out into the world feels very therapeutic.”
Takeda will support the single’s release with a run of UK dates throughout September and October.
‘Lion’s Den’ is out on September 25th 2026 and will be available on all major streaming platforms.
TAKEDA ARE:
Josh Harrison – Vocals / Guitar
David Woodgett – Bass
Charlie Wilson – Drums
ONLINE:
Bandcamp: https://takedaband.bandcamp.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/takeda_band