After two preceding singles and a music video, Danish instrumental rock unit TOWN PORTAL releases its new album Grindwork today November 7th 2025 via the band’s own newly formed label Dream Bureau. Next week, the band will commence on a handful of national release shows with their home city of Copenhagen as the first stop. Also, TOWN PORTAL was recently announced for the ArcTanGent festival in the UK, and more dates abroad will be announced in near future.
TOWN PORTAL states on the album release and the forthcoming shows:
“This album has been a long time coming. We took a long break, and spent the last 3 years experimenting and grinding these songs out together. But it was so very worth it - we feel the new album is our most inspired material to date. It’s a cliché to say that, but it really does feel like we hit some kind of sweet spot between inspired experimentation and amassed wisdom as a band. We can’t wait to get on the road - the new album is a blast to play live, and we’ve missed making a racket in front of our fans.”
TOWN PORTAL LIVE 2025
- 14.11.25 - Huset, Copenhagen (DK)
- 15.11.25 - 1000fryd, Aalborg (DK)
- 12.12.25 - HeadQuarters, Aarhus (DK)
- 13.12.25 - Smadderslev, Slotsgade 25, Haderslev (DK)
- 19-22.08.26 - ArcTanGent, Bristol (UK)
Also, watch the video for the latest single Touching Grass Town Portal - Touching Grass (Official Music Video)
TOWN PORTAL have spent more than a decade carving out a niche within the realm of instrumental rock music. Fusing angular polymeters with jazzy playfulness and melodic sensibilities of 90's noise rock and post-hardcore, their songs unfold as continuous struggles between dissonance and harmony, chaos and groove. In February 2024, TOWN PORTAL ended a five year hiatus with a European tour in support of melodic hardcore legends Thrice. On this tour Town Portal showcased material from what would become their fourth album Grindwork.
On Grindwork, TOWN PORTAL team up with engineer Mark Roberts (Delta Sleep, Black Peaks, etc.) to craft an album that departs from the bleak, stringent sound of its predecessor Of Violence (2019), while retaining the grit and heft introduced to the band’s sound on this album. Instead, Grindwork dives into a playful exploration of the raw materials of composition without self-imposed restraints, reflecting a renewed sense of creative joy within the trio.
This sense of joy that permeates Grindwork sharply contrasts with a world increasingly starved of it. A world in which any creative endeavour could be perceived as trivial or even selfish in the face of the planetary and political crises of our time. At the same time, it’s a reaction to exactly that deprivation — a refusal to surrender to the pull of creative cynicism or apathy. On Grindwork, TOWN PORTAL circles back to the fragile idea that creating something still matters.
Over the years, TOWN PORTAL have released music through labels such as Subsuburban (DK), Small Pond (UK), and Art As Catharsis (AUS). When Small Pond ceased label operations in 2023, the band founded their own imprint, Dream Bureau, to reissue their back catalog and self-release Grindwork. The creation of Dream Bureau fulfills a long-time fantasy of having the band’s DIY ethos reflect in the entire lifecycle of creating and releasing music.
As a live band, TOWN PORTAL have toured extensively across Europe, with standout performances at festivals such as ArcTanGent (2016, 2017), A Colossal Weekend (2016, 2019), Duna Jam (2018), and Portals (2024). In 2024, they supported Thrice (US) on their European tour, adding to a list of notable support slots that also includes legends like The Dillinger Escape Plan, Polvo, and Kowloon Walled City.
TOWN PORTAL ’s discography spans their debut EP Vacuum Horror (2011) and albums Chronopoly (2012), The Occident (2015), Of Violence (2019) and Grindwork (2025). Initially formed as a quartet in 2009, TOWN PORTAL was reduced to a trio after the release of their debut EP and has consistently performed and recorded as a three piece since then.