Plini's third album trades a guitar solo for restraint on its own title track
An Unnameable Desire leans harder into orchestral color and a wider cast of collaborators than anything Plini has released before — and deliberately skips the solo on its lead single.
Mar 31, 2026 · 1 min read
Guitar Radar Editorial · Reviewed by Peter Luha · Published Aug 27, 2026
Plini announced his third studio album, An Unnameable Desire, on March 31, alongside a video for the title track — out April 24 as a 10-track, self-released follow-up to 2020's Impulse Voices. The record pulls in a noticeably wider cast than his earlier work: bassist Simon Grove and drummer Chris Allison co-produced alongside him, with piano and synths from Dave Mackay, string arrangements from A.J. Minette, violin from Misha Vayman, cello from Yoshi Masuda, a guest solo from Jakub Zytecki on "Ciel," and harp from Emily Hopkins on "After Everything." Adam "Nolly" Getgood of Periphery handled mastering.
Plini picked the title track as the lead single specifically because it undersells the record — the song runs without his usual guitar solo, working instead as a kind of misdirection before the rest of the album shows its hand. Asked about his process for a record with this many moving parts, he said it hadn't really changed: "still just me sitting in a room, tinkering on a guitar" until something worth building on shows up.
Why it matters
A guitarist known for the instrument stepping back from a solo on his own lead single is a small, deliberate signal — worth noting from someone whose entire reputation was built on those solos.
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