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Divorce slim down to a two-piece as Kasper Sandstrom and Adam Peter Smith step away
Divorce are now a two-piece after Kasper Sandstrom and Adam Peter Smith left the Nottingham band to prioritise their personal lives.
Divorce have entered what they’re calling a new era as a two-piece, after drummer Kasper Sandstrom and lead guitarist Adam Peter Smith announced they’re leaving the Nottingham alt-country band to focus on their “personal lives”.
The former NME Cover stars released their debut album Drive To Goldenhammer in March last year, and it later landed among NME’s favourite debut records of 2025. Since then, they’ve been everywhere: touring across Europe and North America, headlining in the UK, and taking on several sizeable festival stages along the way.
That run now shifts shape. On May 12, Sandstrom and Smith posted a statement on social media saying the decision to step away had not come easily.
“This isn’t a decision we’ve taken lightly, but as time has gone on, we’ve both realised that we need to prioritise our personal lives more and it feels like now is the right moment for us to step away,” they wrote.
“The past five years have been some of the most fulfilling and memorable of our lives. From our first practice together in Spring 2021, to our last show together in Massachusetts, the road has been a surprising, exciting, and joyful one.”
They went on to underline how much ground the band covered in that time, adding: “We’re so grateful for each moment we have created together. We have so many incredible memories with the band, making music that has reached thousands of people across the globe. We couldn’t be prouder of everything we have achieved as four friends setting out on this road together.”
“The irony is not lost on us, but we are not calling this a ‘divorce’, it’s simply a new era for the band. We are excited for what the future holds for Felix and Tiger in this next chapter for Divorce, there is a lot still to come and we can’t wait for you to hear and experience it with them.”
Singer/guitarist Felix Mackenzie-Barrow and singer/bassist Tiger Cohen-Towell will continue on as Divorce’s core two-piece.
The band spoke to NME last spring for The Cover, reflecting on their beginnings in Nottingham’s grassroots scene and the “self-sustaining” circle of artists that shaped them. Mackenzie-Barrow described that environment as something built from the ground up: “When you don’t get a lot of outside interest, you don’t have much choice but to make it yourself,” he said. “Sitting in the van on your way to a show and looking around at these friends that you have, sitting in the garden in the house where we wrote the songs, having dinner together. Those are the moments that feel like success.”
In December, Divorce released a new version of their single Antarctica featuring Mumford & Sons’ Marcus Mumford. The following month, Mackenzie-Barrow launched a solo project under the name Book Of Churches, with the first album arriving in March.
