Zeronic are stepping into a new era with the announcement of Modernism, the Austrian alternative trio’s forthcoming album, due October 2, 2026. Alongside the announcement, the band have shared details of the record’s second single, ‘A String of Luck’, released June 26, offering another glimpse into a project that blends post-punk influence with reflections on modern life.
Following the comeback single ‘The Hope and the Enemy’, ‘A String of Luck’ continues the band’s focus on uncertainty, hope and connection. The track captures the feeling of waiting for something to shift in places where life feels slow, where it can seem like things are happening elsewhere.
As the band explains, “A string of luck becomes less about individual success and more about the hope that something unexpected might come along and lift the whole room.”
Musically, the song is built around restraint and forward motion, with zeronic prioritising flow over complexity. The idea, they say, arrived quickly and shaped the rest of the track’s direction.
“The hook was first and it appeared almost instantly. From there, the rest of the song seemed to fall into place around it.”
They add, “one of the biggest challenges was resisting the urge to overcomplicate the arrangement and instead trusting the song’s momentum. Looking back, it’s probably one of the tracks that stayed closest to its original idea from the very beginning.”
Sonically, zeronic continue to draw on 1980s pop and post-punk influences, with echoes of Talking Heads, The Cure and David Bowie informing the record’s atmosphere while keeping the band’s own identity at the centre.
The announcement of Modernism marks a significant new chapter. Rather than framing the release as a comeback, zeronic describe it as a continuation, reconnecting the urgency of their early work with a more deliberate perspective shaped over time. Across ten tracks, the album explores themes of acceleration, distance, belonging and contradiction, asking how people stay connected in a world that constantly pulls them apart.
Written over the course of a year, the album was drawn from around 25 ideas and sketches before being narrowed down to its final tracklist. The band describe a creative process that felt unusually fluid, with songs forming quickly and retaining their initial shape.
Musically, Modernism moves between stripped-back guitar-led moments and fuller arrangements, reflecting different sides of the band’s catalogue. Despite its title, the record is less about technology or progress itself and more about the human experience within those conditions.
“Modernism is about trying to remain human in a world that’s constantly being optimised. The songs explore the tensions of modern life – connection and isolation, progress and disillusionment, belonging and escape. But beneath those ideas, it’s really a record about people trying to hold on to what matters and find one another.”
zeronic’s history stretches back to the 1990s, when they emerged as one of the defining acts of Austria’s alternative scene. Raised in a rural environment before relocating to Vienna, the band developed a sound shaped by emotional intensity and live energy.
“those early years- having to carve out space and make ourselves heard- really defined us.”
Their rise included opening for Bryan Adams in front of more than 10,000 people at Liebenau Arena in Graz, and the release of their 2001 debut High Life, which featured the single ‘zero’ and earned an Amadeus Austrian Music Award nomination. Further albums, extensive touring across Austria and Germany, collaboration with producer Gareth Jones, and shared stages with acts including New Order, Queens of the Stone Age, Stereophonics and The Kills cemented their reputation internationally.
After a lengthy hiatus, frontman Mik Tanzos pursued solo work under the names MIK and TANZOS, including appearances as a special guest on Paul Weller’s Austrian tour dates and press comparisons to David Bowie and Michael Hutchence. He now returns with zeronic, reframing the project not as a comeback but as a continuation of the band’s evolving identity.
With ‘A String of Luck’ now released and Modernism on the horizon, zeronic begin a new chapter that balances reflection with forward momentum, pairing thoughtful lyricism with their characteristic energetic sound.
‘A String of Luck’ is out now. Modernism is released October 2, 2026.
