Heartworms has shared her bold and dance-y new single ‘Guess I’m Stuck In The Dark’ and spoken to NME about what to expect from her hotly-anticipated new album, tackling “uncertainty and dark humour”.
The first taster of the rising London goth rock star’s follow-up to her 2025 acclaimed debut ‘Glutton For Punishment‘ comes as a strutting and groove-based indie noir banger, adding glitterball shimmers to her stark and macabre sound as Jojo Orme investigates “how our minds begin to deceive us when we’re left in the dark, conjuring up fears that only appear in moments of insecurity – but also leaning into that, and trying to party alongside it.”
Speaking to NME fresh from launching her new era and aesthetic with some intimate shows in Italy (where the first version of the new single was born) Orme explained how the song sprung from an incident involving a power-cut while on the toilet during a writing session, a fear of the dark and a stream of consciousness lyrical flow. Returning to London, Orme took the track to producer Dan Carey, who saw the potential in the song and stripped it back to the bare essentials.
“Over time, a lot of my lyrics do change meaning when I start to realise that maybe it was subconscious telling me something,” shared Orme. “I was struggling to come up with an idea for that song. I couldn’t think of anything, I was feeling very vulnerable and shy, I didn’t like recording vocals in front of people, and being stuck in the dark is about just not being confident in yourself.”
From there, Orme found herself grappling with the idea of “trying to figure out how to be great, but not be great for others, rather great for yourself.”
She added: “There’s a problem where the more you look within, the more of a mess it is, so when you are trying to come up with something you have to just not look anywhere and the darkness just helps you to straight-up say it.”
Check out the rest of our interview with Orme below, where she told us about what to expect from album number two, changes brought on by heartache, and her excitement to be hitting the road with Interpol.
NME: Hello Heartworms. How telling is ‘Guess I’m Stuck In The Dark’ of the new album?
Heartworms: “It’s definitely a misleading track, and I think every track might be misleading.”
Is the album done?
“Yes, I’ve finished recording it. I think it’s nearly there. I’m just coming up with all the cool visuals and whatnot.”
Where does it take things from ‘Glutton For Punishment’?
“I’m never really reaching for anything. I never plan, because planning does limit you to new ideas. You think you need to be careful and consistent. For me, I just do whatever I want to do. If I want to write a dance track, if I want to write a hip-hop track, I’ll just do it because I want to do it.”
Lyrically, what’s been inspiring you?
“The lyrics are what I believe tie the album together, all in the same world of uncertainty and dark humour. I’d be lying if I said I knew the character for the new album because there isn’t really any specific one, there are many. I’d like to say I moved through it like water, taking the shape of each world in whatever way I felt.”
What changes have you seen in yourself since the last record?
“That’s a really good question. As I’m getting older, there are a lot of things I believed in last year and don’t believe in now. I’m still battling with my religion and understanding the ideals, other ideas and the meaning of things. I got married last year and we’re not together any more. All these things that have happened has completely changed who I am. How I live and breathe is writing.
“It’s just moving forward, grabbing whatever inspires me, hoping it makes it into something. I’m not trying to be anything – I’m just trying to cope.”
Is it too simplistic to say that your new stuff is grappling with that disenchantment and what you’ve learned from it, or more a matter of moving through it and documenting it?
“It could be both. For some of the songs, I changed the lyrics just before recording them. ‘Oh, that’s what I’m trying to say. I was feeling trapped, and that’s why I wrote those lyrics’. I was saying something I didn’t understand, then as I moved and shifted, it all fell into place.”
How was it been launching your new era in Italy?
“I was trying new songs. I guess I was quite scared, because I wanted to change the look to something that I’ve always wanted to wear and naturally gravitate towards by wearing a woollen suit. I like wearing woollen suits on stage and sweating a lot. I feel like I perform better when I’m really uncomfortable.
“Also, just not playing my Firebird [guitar] and getting back pains. I’ve been playing a [Fender] Telecaster, which is a guitar I’ve always been afraid to play on stage because of the shape. I love the sound. The sound is incredible as is recording with it. It’s a brilliant guitar, but I just never thought the shape looked good. I’ve been waiting to find the perfect look to compliment the guitar. I think I’ve managed to find it.
“I didn’t want to have to wear all black again and I was scared to change, but I did it and I never want to go back. When it comes to aesthetic, I mainly think about what I’m trying to say, the sound, I just wait for it to make sense. I become something through the music.”
You’re also about to join Bloc Party and Interpol on their co-headline tour. You’ve said before you’re somewhat religious in your love of Interpol?
“Yes, I really do love them. In a lot of things I write, they shimmer through a few parts. That’s what I like to hear, so when I’m writing it’s a little bit of instrumentation.
“I’m thinking about that first show, just feeling like I’m supporting them. I wonder how I’m going to be, if I’m going to be completely cool and not thinking about if they’re watching or not. I don’t know. I’m thinking about all these things. It’s pretty good all these things are happening.”
You’ve also supported St Vincent and Sleaford Mods in some pretty big rooms. Do opportunities like this give you a hunger for larger stages?
“I never think of big venues. It’s a hard job, it’s really taxing, but there are moments when you can make the most of it and that’s just taking every moment in as much as you can.”
With JoJo of Heartworms pic.twitter.com/ybnJwjSv7K
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) July 1, 2025
You also met gaming icon Hideo Kojima [Metal Gear], who you can count as a fan. What was that like?
“Hideo and I are good friends, he’s really funny and loves Joy Division. Just a great guy – which reminds me I need to buy a PlayStation!”
‘Guess I’m Stuck In The Dark’ is out now. Heartworms will be headlining a London date at The Windmill in Brixton on Wednesday October 28, before heading to Dark Arts Festival in Leeds on Saturday October 31 and Iceland Airwaves on Reykjavik on Sunday November 7 before her dates supporting Interpol and Bloc Party kick off in Berlin on Thursday November 11 as they roll through Europe and the UK. Visit here for tickets and more information.
