Airdrie novelist Graeme Armstrong dives into rave culture and resistance in his highly anticipated second book
Award-winning Scottish novelist Graeme Armstrong has launched his highly anticipated second novel, Raveheart, a politically charged dystopian adventure that combines Scotland's rave culture with a story of resistance against authoritarian rule.
Published by Fourth Estate on 4 June 2026, Raveheart arrives six years after Armstrong's bestselling debut novel, The Young Team, which earned widespread critical acclaim and established him as one of Scotland's most distinctive literary voices. Armstrong was also named one of Granta's Best Young British Novelists in 2023.
Set in a dystopian, alternate-reality Scotland, Raveheart follows William Patterson, known as DJ Turbo, a former DJ at local Coatbridge ice rink, The Time Capsule, whose life has lost direction after his glory days on the decks.
When a far-right government introduces sweeping restrictions on youth culture and bans electronic music, Turbo and a group of fellow enthusiasts launch an underground rave movement in defiance of the regime. Their campaign evolves into a broader struggle for cultural freedom as surveillance, political repression and social division intensify.
The novel draws heavily on Armstrong's lifelong connection to Scotland's dance music scene. In a recent interview discussing the book, the author described Raveheart as both a "love letter" to rave culture and a political parable inspired by contemporary social tensions.
Launch events have been held across Scotland, including appearances in Paisley and Glasgow, where Armstrong has discussed the novel's themes and inspirations with readers.
Publisher Fourth Estate describes the book as: “Hilarious, tragic and incredibly clever all at once, this narcotic trip of a novel is a meta, mayhem-filled, cultural coup d'état and cult classic in the making, from one of the most electrifying young writers in Britain today.”
Graeme Armstrong said: “While the majority of my work on the page, screen and community deals with hard-hitting social themes, Raveheart speaks to the pure joy of rave culture we experienced first-hand in its mid-2000s renaissance in Scotland, and to an ever more challenging world beyond.
“The incredible heritage of Scottish rave pioneers before us, combined with our generation’s bedroom bootlegging PCDJ craze made for years of endless energy (albeit some chemical) pure passion and mad memories.
“These are the nostalgic driving forces of Raveheart, and I can’t wait to share it with the rave and literary communities. Glowsticks at the ready, troops. We’re going in.”
Armstrong is from Airdrie and his teenage years were spent within North Lanarkshire’s Young Team gang culture. Alongside overcoming his own struggles with drug addiction, alcohol abuse and violence, he defied expectation to read English as an undergraduate at the University of Stirling; where, after graduating with honours, he returned to study a Masters’ in Creative Writing. He is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Strathclyde.
Graeme regularly works within the community visiting prisons and schools, giving talks on his experiences of gang-culture and substance abuse. He promotes a message of anti-violence and abstinence-based recovery.
His bestselling debut novel, The Young Team is inspired by his experiences. It won a Betty Trask Award, a Somerset Maugham Award, and the Scots Book of the Year 2021.
In 2021, Graeme presented Scotland the Rave, a documentary broadcast by the BBC that explored Scotland’s rave and PCDJ culture, subsequently nominated for a BAFTA Scotland and RTS Scotland Award 2022.
His second documentary series, Street Gangs, where Graeme reflects on his own past as an ex-gang member to try to understand life inside a modern gang, aired on the BBC in October 2023.
You can find out more about Raveheart here.