 PIG | An American Ideal Of Beauty single cover artwork PIG AN AMERICAN IDEAL OF BEAUTY new single out 31st July 2026 (Metropolis Records)  PIG | An American Ideal Of Beauty video directed by E Gabriel Edvy for Blackswitch Labs included on DIRT BOX new EP out 4th September 2026 Bandcamp UK industrial glam maverick Raymond Watts aka PIG has today released a brand new single, ‘An American Ideal Of Beauty’, on Metropolis Records. Co-written with old friend Marc Heal (Cubanate, C-Tec), who provides a co-vocal and synth work, the song also features Günter Schulz (ex-KMFDM) sharing guitar duties with Watts’ regular songwriting partner Jim Davies (ex-The Prodigy and Pitchshifter). “I wanted to distil and hone the sound of the current PIG album, ‘Hurt People Hurt’, so inviting my old partners in swine Marc and Günter to join Jim and myself in the studio seemed the perfect blend of brutality and beauty to feed, fertilise and transmogrify the hog into Hogzilla,” Watts explains. “This new single was the first result of our work as a quartet, hammered in the heat of the anvil of hurt.” A stunning video for ‘An American Ideal Of Beauty’ directed by E Gabriel Edvy for Blackswitch Labs can be seen HERE. The recording sessions produced three more new songs, each of which has been remixed by contemporaries that include Stabbing Westward’s Chris Hall and Combichrist. All eight tracks are collected on ‘Dirt Box’, an EP that will be issued on 4th September, a week after the commencement of PIG’s ‘Hurt People Tour’ of North America. The 44 dates are to promote ‘Hurt People Hurt’, which received stellar reviews upon release in late May, and include performances in Chicago, Los Angeles and Austin as part of the Cold Waves XIV festival.  HURT PEOPLE TOUR NORTH AMERICA | FALL 2026 tickets | video  Preceded by the singles ‘Tosca’s Kiss’ VIDEO and ‘Sex & Suicide’ LYRIC VIDEO, ‘Hurt People Hurt’ STREAM | BANDCAMP received some of the best reviews of Watts’ career globally, with Bearded Gentlemen Music (US) describing him as “the missing link between David Bowie, Gary Numan and Trent Reznor.” Much of the album was co-written by Watts with Jim Davies, Treble Zine (US) commenting that their work together “brings a theatrical quirkiness to the industrial crunch. There is attention to detail in the songwriting, while the vocals are emoted with conviction, showing that experience has its perks.” Elsewhere, Tinnitist (Canada) stated its songs were “danceable and deadly serious in turn. PIG climbs peaks and mines troughs, while musical genres slide and collide like tectonic plates.” In his home territory, Classic Rock pointed out that “Watts is industrial rock’s handsome rogue and a one-stop shop for devastating dancefloor beats and snarling vocals,” and that the album’s title track “brings to mind both Ghost and Sisters Of Mercy at their most extravagant.” Vive Le Rock added that “PIG are cut from esteemed cloth and the quality offered here is second to none,” while Electronic Sound concurred that the “existential glam maverick continues to carve an enduring impression into the backside of the industrial rock scene.” The North American tour will be followed by four UK shows in December, tickets for which can be purchased HERE.  DIRT BOXTRACKLIST 1 An American Ideal Of Beauty 2 Your Reptilian Overlord Presents 3 Infidel 4 Butterfly 5 Your Reptilian Overlord Presents (Cyanotic Remix) 6 An American Ideal Of Beauty (Stabbing Westward/Chris Hall Remix) 7 Butterfly (Combichrist Remix) 8 Infidel (Rabbit Junk Remix)  PIG | Dirt Box EP cover artworkRaymond Watts has not only made fifteen albums as PIG, but was a founder member of KMFDM with a key writing and vocal role on their best known songs of the ‘80s/’90s. He has worked with stalwarts of the global industrial scene such as Einstürzende Neubauten, Foetus and Psychic TV, while a period living in Japan saw him involved with the groups with the bands Schwein and Schaft. Watts has also written music for film, TV, advertising and fashion shows in Europe, Japan and America. His work in fashion includes ‘Punk: Chaos to Couture’ (Metropolitan Museum Of Art, New York) and ‘Plato’s Atlantis’ for the late fashion icon Alexander McQueen, which was reprised as ‘Savage Beauty’ (MMOA and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London).  PIG | Raymond Watts 2026 photo by E Gabriel Edvy |
Saturday, August 8, 2026