Disco never really left. It just waited for bands who treat the groove like a science and a party at the same time. Starwolf’s new single Back It Up arrives in that sweet spot: fifth track off the upcoming Copacabana EP, due November 5, 2026, and it leans all the way into the galactic disco-funk the St. Louis trio have been building since 2016.
The band started outside St. Louis in rural Illinois as a three-piece chasing an other-worldly mix of funk and pop. Tim Moore handles drums, synth, and percussion. Max Sauer covers guitar, bass, and synth. Chris Rhein sings and plays bass and guitar. Early releases Ti Amo, Stargazer (2018) and Astro Lobo (2020) already pointed toward that space-funk lane. Tropical Disco in 2024 locked it in, and the singles that followed kept the same polish: live-feeling rhythm section, glossy mix, and a bass player who has actually sat in with David Bowie.
That bass player is back. Back It Up features Tim Lefebvre, the same name you see on Bowie’s Blackstar, Tedeschi Trucks Band, and Empire of the Sun credits. The mix comes from Jason Kingsland, whose résumé includes Deerhunter, Band of Horses, and Washed Out. Those two names matter because Starwolf’s records have always sounded bigger than a Midwestern trio in a room. Lefebvre’s lines give the low end that elastic, studio-grade snap. Kingsland keeps the disco sheen without burying the live drums and guitar.
SubmitHub tagged the track Disco, and that is the honest frame. Think four-on-the-floor pulse, funk guitar chatter, and the kind of arrangement that wants a packed floor more than a headphones-only listen. I am not going to invent lyrics or drop-by-drop analysis I do not have. What the credits tell you is enough: this is the same team that already put Lefebvre on Tropical Disco and kept calling Kingsland back. Continuity is part of the point. Copacabana is not a sudden genre jump. It is the next chapter of a band that already sold out a vinyl pressing with help from listeners in Japan and has opened for or shared bills with Chaka Khan, Franz Ferdinand, Donny Benét, Black Pumas, Lady Wray, and Rainbow Kitten Surprise.
That context sits inside a wider 2026 moment. Disco and disco-funk keep leaking into charts and festival sets, from nu-disco club cuts to pop records that steal the bassline and the glitter. Independent bands who can actually play the style, not just sample it, have a lane. Starwolf occupy that lane without pretending they invented it. Rural Illinois roots, St. Louis home base, Huey Lewis as the unlikely motivational poster in their own origin story, and a stubborn habit of sending tracks out until the world hears them.
If you already know Don’t You Forget or Get Down Tonight from the catalog, Back It Up is the next breadcrumb before November. If you are new, start here and work backward through Tropical Disco. The band still writes like a unit that grew up on 1970s funk, disco, and jazz after leaving the alt-rock circuit behind. The guests raise the ceiling. The mix keeps it danceable.
Independent artists who want that same reach still need a clean path onto Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and the rest. DistroKid keeps the upload simple and leaves more of the money with the people who made the record. Use this link and you get 7 percent off membership: https://distrokid.com/vip/seven/2058328. Worth it if you are sitting on an EP and do not want the distribution step to eat the calendar.
What do you think of Starwolf’s disco-funk lane? Drop a comment if Back It Up is going on the weekend playlist.
