Bend the Light is quite a departure from the orchestrated hyperpop of previous Head of Femur albums. The writing began immediately after the release of Hear, Hear Tunemaker, during one of several all-night writing sessions where the three songwriters would experiment with whatever indulgent, jarring noises sounded good to their declining hearing. Over the years, this produced more than two dozen songs demoed in various stages. Eventually, they chose eleven songs that were the most abstract, experimental, and challenging of the bunch. They leaned into post-punk, krautrock, and free-experimentation while continuing to weave pop hooks laced with their idiosyncratic style into the tracks. After performing the songs throughout the year, they entered ARC studios as a five-piece band. They added overdubs at Floating Point studio and completed Bend the Light, Head of Femur's first full album in over a decade, to be released via the band's original home at Greyday Records on 180g eco-friendly white biovinyl, CD, and digital/streaming in fall 2026.