In a time marked by fleeting alliances, “Stranger” emerges as a testament to enduring bonds rather than a mere random alignment of the stars. This exquisite standalone single beautifully showcases the talents of the Miki Berenyi Trio, Lol Tolhurst, and his son, Gray, who fronts Bay Area post-punk outfit Topographies. With its shimmering shoegaze qualities, the song weaves together years of friendship and connection across vast oceans and distant decades, creating an elegy that resonates deeply.
Following a memorable U.S. tour in Spring 2024—where MB3 shared the stage with Lol Tolhurst x Budgie—the bonds formed on the road have now yielded sonic fruit. Ahead of a co-headlining European tour beginning this weekend, the newly christened Miki Berenyi Trio x Lol Tolhurst x Gray unveil Stranger, a song that floats like dust through fading light: fragile, glowing, gently devastating.
The track began as a demo from the Tolhursts, eventually coalescing in studios scattered across Los Angeles, London, and St Leonards. It was produced by MB3’s Oliver Cherer, who elaborates on the song’s evolution:
“Stranger arrived as a demo from Lol/Gray, with guitar, synth and drums, with loads of room to develop riffs, hooks and melodies. I liked the insistent repetition of the long outro and was instantly minded to explore a Talk Talk approach, which is where the piano line with the Ashes to Ashes flanger wobble came from. The outro was extended to make a virtue of the repeated progression and the strings synths were added to help swell that into a wall of crescendo. Miki then took over adding lyrics and the gorgeous vocal melodies. Moose added layers of shimmering guitars and a rough mix was sent to Lol who added drum parts, recorded by Martin Fleischmann in Los Angeles, before it all came back to St Leonards for a mix where I also sneaked in a nice fat, squelchy Moog part. It developed quite naturally and easily, with each person’s contribution making the song bigger and more beautiful at every turn.”*
Indeed, what begins as a quietly haunting track builds into something wide-screen and wondrous—a glacial bloom of synth, voice, and reverberated sorrow. Berenyi’s vocal performance is as weightless as it is wrenching, carried by lyrics that examine emotional ricochet with poetic clarity:
“The lyrics are about being a friend to a long-term couple splitting,” Miki shares. “The tragedy at the centre is the people actually breaking up, but the repercussions ripple outward.”
It’s a rare pop song that dares to step outside the central heartbreak and into the quiet collapse of its orbit. Stranger doesn’t weep; it observes the aftershocks in real time, with restraint and ruin in equal measure.
The accompanying video mirrors the track’s eerie and elegiac elegance—a spectral vignette of abstract shapes enveloping dancing couples from a bygone age.
Watch the video for “Strangers” below:
“Sadly, Budgie couldn’t make this tour,” Lol Tolhurst adds, “but my son Gray is taking time out of his band Topographies to perform my set with me. ‘Stranger’ will feature all five of the touring party playing live together, and we’re excited to have a unique song for the shows.”
Miki Berenyi Trio Tour Dates – TICKETS
EU/UK
- 4/27: Arlon, Belgium @ L’Entrepôt (with Lol Tolhurst)
- 4/28: Colmar, FR @ Le Grillen (with Lol Tolhurst)
- 4/29: Paris, FR @ FGO Barbara (with Lol Tolhurst)
- 4/30: Lille, FR @ L’Aéronef (with Lol Tolhurst)
- 5/1: Haarlem, Netherlands @ Patronaat (with Lol Tolhurst)
5/3: Liege, Belgium @ Reflektor (with Lol Tolhurst) - 5/9: London, UK @ Moth Club
- 5/10: Norwich, UK @ Voodoo Daddy
- 5/11: Brighton, UK @ DUST
- 5/18: Reading, UK @ The Facebar
- 5/22: Cambridge @ The Portland Arms
- 5/24: Leeds, UK @ Lending Rooms
- 5/31: Edinburgh, UK @ Sneaky Petes
- 6/1: Newcastle. UK @ The Cluny
- 7/5: Cheshire, UK @ Pop at the Lock
North America
- 10/10: Washington DC @ Pearl Street Warehouse
- 10/11: Brooklyn NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
- 10/12: Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
- 10/13: Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz PDB
- 10/15: Toronto, ON @ The Great Hall
- 10/16: Ferndale, MI @ The Magic Bag
- 10/17: Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
- 10/18: St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
- 10/20: Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
- 10/21: Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
- 10/23: Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre
- 10/24: Vancouver, BC @ Hollywood Theatre
- 10/25: Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
- 10/27: San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
- 10/28: West Hollywood, CA @ The Roxy Theatre
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