Bristol’s Apocalyptic Lounge-Rock band Erotic Secrets of Pompeii have just unleashed their second album Pitchfork Libra.
Formed in 2018, the five-piece has built a reputation for their intense and immersive artistry that goes way beyond the music itself. Beginning as frontman Thomas Hawtin’s experimental project, Erotic Secrets of Pompeii expanded into a full lineup, releasing their audacious album Mondo Maleficum in 2024 to wide acclaim, balancing darkness, weirdness, and a sense of adventure.
Their sound is tricky by design, as angular post-punk riffs collide with cabaret crooning in a cacophany of new wave, glam, and big riff rock, all held together with a consistent thread of theatrical menace.
Their songs feel like eclectic art pieces, with a creative universe populated by vivid imagery and symbolism that draws on the work of Terry Gilliam, Salvador Dalí, William Blake and Robert Anton Wilson, whilst citing everything from Bowie and Roxy Music to Devo and Talking Heads to Captain Beefheart and The Residents as musical inspirations. The bands embrace of literature, film and theatre into their songwriting gives their work a deep, dense, packed quality, and their live shows are packed with extravagant costumes, dramatic props, and a completely unhinged stage presence.
Hawkin performs in kabuki-like makeup with a maniacal energy as the brand bring a chaotic tightness to create an otherworldy cabaret. They’ve electrified stages at Boomtown Fair, The Great Escape, Shambala, and Bearded Theory, and they’ve successfully crowdfunded their new album Pitchfork Libra via Kickstarter. One of the most surreal and intriguing bands to emerge from Bristol’s fertile scene, Erotic Secrets of Pompeii are ambitious, original, and baffling.
We spoke to frontman Thomas Hawtin to find out more:
It perhaps feels wrong to refer to Erotic Secrets of Pompeii as simply a ‘band’. How would you define ESOP?
The music is always at the heart of what we do, but everything we create branches out from it – the videos, the artwork, the live performance all ties together into a strange, bizarro world of its own. ESOP is also a vessel for collaboration, a way of bringing together filmmakers, visual artists, and makers of all kinds to expand the world in which the music inhabits.
Can you unpack the title of the new album for us?
We wanted a title that was as enigmatic as the music. Pitchfork Libra can be interpreted in several different ways. One interpretation might be this: the pitchfork is a tool for farming and can be used as a weapon. Libra is the scales, balance, a reference to astrology. What you're getting is a collection of songs wrapped up in cosmic violence.
What themes or emotional states are you exploring this time around?
The album opens with a song about the Dancing Plague of 1518, and closes with a song about a sentient fatberg under the streets of Whitechapel. Many of the songs on the album channel Jack Parsons - mid-century rocket engineer, occultist, sex magician who died under mysterious circumstances - wrangling themes of magic/science, sex/death. We didn’t want the album to become an on-the-nose homage to Jack Parsons per se, but more like we’re threading him through certain lyrics and songs.
We’ve listed a couple of your stated inspirations above, can you expand on this for us? What really makes you tick?
I like striking things, weird things, things on the fringes. We love all kinds of art, and we try to combine the compost bin of all our influences into what we do: from art house and B-movie horror films, the weird Christian mysticism of William Blake, psychedelic thinkers like Robert Anton Wilson, to magic users like Alan Moore. Thoughts and ideas that break you out of the humdrum.
Are there any artists or thinkers who you would consider essential to your worldview?
No one single artist/thinker leaps out. I think it’s good to grow your bed of godheads. Keep it fresh, keep searching for more ideas to help understand the world better.
Do you consider yourselves a political band?
We wouldn’t describe ourselves as a political band in the traditional sense - our songs are more like surreal, grotesque vignettes, full of metaphor and imagery, often exploring the human condition. That said, we don’t exist in a vacuum. The things that move us tend to find their way into the edges of what we do. Beyond the music, we’ve tried to support causes we believe in: donating gig fees to Medical Aid for Palestinians, playing a Ukraine benefit show, and contributing to a compilation raising funds for The Kaleidoscope Trust, which supports LGBTI+ communities globally.
Can you talk about the influence of theatre on your live shows?
Our live show is where we truly come alive. Each performance feels like a kind of self-exorcism - total exertion, total release. We’ve always been drawn to theatre and often daydream about what we could conjure with a limitless budget. For now, we keep things focused on the raw energy of the performance itself, though costume and visual flair definitely play a part. Dressing up is part of the ritual - I’ve recently discovered the wonder that is Hotfix Rhinestones, and my life has changed for good. My new jacket for the Pitchfork Libra tour is covered in them.
If an audience sees you for the first time, what are you hoping they feel?
If someone sees us for the first time, we want them to feel an enormous sense of “what on earth did I just witness?” Ideally, they’ll enjoy it - but even if they don’t, we hope they can’t deny the passion and intensity we throw into every show. And if they leave a little dazed, confused, or perhaps mysteriously transformed into a Neapolitan shrew and cured of their gout, then we’ve done our job.
How has Bristol shaped what you do?
Bristol is a beautiful city, a real hub of creativity. The music scenes, the availability of good music venues, the history it all feeds into what we do. Tom Hackwell (guitar/synth/production) previously ran Coach House Studios - a recording studio built by Massive Attack for their album Blue Lines and also where Portishead recorded Dummy. We ran the band out of there for the first few years so we came into contact with a lot of other exciting bands and ideas that way - IDLES, Black Peaks, St Pierre Snake Invasion amongst many others.
What is the ultimate goal of Erotic Secrets of Pompeii?
The ultimate goal is to build a world of our own - one that people can step into through our lyrics, artwork, and performances. We want to make music that feels unusual, imaginative, and alive; to entertain while challenging expectations. Along the way, we hope to travel the world, encounter strange and fascinating people, and grow the ESOP family wherever we go.
Catch Erotic Secrets of Pompeii on their Pitchfork Libra Tour:
PITCHFORK LIBRA TOUR 2025
17/10 – Bristol, UK – Rough Trade (Album release show)
24/10 – Tourcoing, FR – Le Grand Mix
25/10 – Troyes, FR – Festival Off Off Off
28/10 – Reims, FR – La Cartonnerie
30/10 – Milano, IT – Arci Bellezza
31/10 – Sion, CH – Point 11
01/11 – Ravenna, IT – Bronson
02/11 – Zagreb, HR – Tvornica Kulture
04/11 – Kusel, DE – Kulturzentrum Kinett
03/12 – Edinburgh, UK – Sneaky Pete's
04/12 – Manchester, UK – The Castle
05/12 – Birmingham, UK – Sunflower Lounge
06/12 – London, UK – The Waiting Room
Get your tickets here: https://www.eroticsecretsofpompeii.com/live