Introducing Heretic
A new year, and a new album! Seven years in the making, I’m pleased to introduce you to Heretic, which will be released on 20th March digitally and on vinyl through this website and Bandcamp. The first single release will be the track Prophet, which will be released in February 2026. Pre-release is here: https://annaneale.bandcamp.com/album/heretic
ANNA NEALE ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM HERETIC — A BOLD, UNFLINCHING ALTERNATIVE RECORD ARRIVING IN 2026
Produced with Mercury Prize–nominated Gerry Diver | Featuring collaborations with Dave Rowntree (Blur), Victoria Horn (Lady V), Patch Hannan (The Sundays), Julian Swales (Kitchens of Distinction) and more
Acclaimed singer-songwriter Anna Neale announces the release of her new album Heretic, due 20th March 2026 — a powerful, deeply personal body of work that confronts neurodivergence, misogyny, survival, and self-reclamation with uncompromising honesty.
Described by former BBC broadcaster Dan Chisholm as “as culturally important as Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill was in the 1990s”, Heretic stands as a generational statement — reflecting women’s lived experiences today with rage, humour, sensuality, and hard-won clarity.
Produced with Mercury Prize–nominated producer Gerry Diver (Graham Coxon, Paul Heaton, Lisa Knapp), the album features an extraordinary roster of collaborators including Dave Rowntree (Blur), Patch Hannan (The Sundays, Newton Faulkner), Julian Swales (Kitchens of Distinction) and Grammy Award–winning songwriter Victoria Horn (Death in Vegas, David Guetta, Enrique Iglesias).
Heretic is the culmination of a seven-year creative journey, written during one of the most turbulent periods of Neale’s life. It marks a turning point — both personally and artistically — following her late diagnosis of Autism and ADHD, which allowed her, after more than 20 years in music, to finally understand her voice, identity, and purpose.
“I’m angry — but there’s humour too,” Neale says. “That feels truthful to me. This record reflects the experience of being a 40+ woman who has survived the music industry, learned how her brain works, and stopped apologising for taking up space.”
The album is unapologetically rooted in neurodivergent lived experience, from its title and visual aesthetic to its lyrical themes. Alongside this are some of Neale’s most emotionally raw songs to date, including reflections on her husband’s severe illness, his recovery, and the trauma surrounding that period. Other tracks confront coercion, abuse, and misogyny within the music industry itself — experiences that ultimately reshaped how and with whom Neale chooses to work.
Heretic moves fluidly between confrontation and vulnerability: from the biting industry critique of “Big Fat Ego” and the anti-misogyny rallying cry “YMFFU,” to the sensual, healing empowerment of “Prophet.” Neurodivergent lived experience runs through the album, notably on “Tree,” co-written with Dave Rowntree, and the title track “Heretic,” both reflecting isolation, overstimulation, and defiance in a world resistant to difference. Songs like “Wrapped Up” explore identity and power within relationships, while “Paper Cut” and “Mass Destruction” confront emotional abuse and coercive control with unflinching honesty. The album’s emotional core is laid bare on “Self Defence” and “Things Unsaid,” written during periods of profound instability and loss, while “Hunger” draws on Neale’s Irish roots and echoes of Kate Bush to reflect on ambition, legacy, and the relentless pull to keep striving.
With Heretic, Anna Neale delivers a fearless, culturally resonant album that refuses silence, challenges power, and reclaims authorship — not just of music, but of identity itself.
More information to follow soon. Watch this space…