British alternative rock band VENUS GRRRLS have released a new single, “Carmilla”, a dark, romantic track inspired by the gothic novella of the same name by Irish writer Sheridan Le Fanu. The song is taken from the band’s upcoming EP “To Die As Lovers May”, which will be released on 16 October via Killabop.
The single combines influences from eighties gothic and industrial music with the band’s alternative rock sound. Vampirism, forbidden desire and the thin line between love and death run through the song. Le Fanu published “Carmilla” in 1872, more than twenty years before Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, and the story of a female vampire and her obsessive relationship with a young woman is regarded as an influential work of gothic literature.
A novelle that sparked a song
Vocalist GK said the idea for the song came immediately after reading the novelle, and that the EP’s title also refers to Le Fanu’s story. She described the themes the release explores:
“It’s dark and forbidden, but it’s enticing and everlasting. I think this tender balance that exists in between the cracks of love and death is what the entire EP is exploring.”
- GK, vocalist
The recording sessions added to the atmosphere. GK recorded her vocals in the Spanish mountains, partly in the middle of the night and after three glasses of red wine, and some vocals were captured in an abandoned chapel, where the band and producer Brad Mair worked in the dark. “It was particularly cathartic to record a song about lesbian vampires in an old chapel”, she said.
Filmed at Whitby Abbey
The video for “Carmilla” was made in cooperation with English Heritage and partly shot at Whitby Abbey in northern England. The historic ruin is closely tied to the gothic tradition and is one of the locations that inspired Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”.
“Carmilla” follows the earlier singles “Mother Knows” and “Eve”, both of which received attention from, among others, Kerrang!, Rock Sound, BBC Radio 1, BBC 6Music and Radio X. On “To Die As Lovers May” the band brings together nineties grunge melancholy with the claustrophobic atmosphere of eighties goth. The EP holds five tracks: “Eve”, “Carmilla”, “Mother Knows”, “Evergreen” and “Wormfood”.
GK fronts an all-female four-piece
VENUS GRRRLS consist of vocalist GK, guitarist Eliza, drummer Alannagh and bassist Hannah. In 2026 the band played BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend, 2000Trees and Rock For People, and shared stages with Nova Twins, Witch Fever and Tigercub.
The EP will be available on cd and vinyl, including a blood-red vinyl variant. In October the band will also head out on a headline tour of the United Kingdom.
