The Darkness Announce Eighth Studio Album 'Dreams On Toast' And Spring UK Tour
Wednesday, 18 September 2024
Written by Jon Stickler
Photo: Simon Emmett
The Darkness have laid out plans for their eighth studio album.
The follow-up to 2021's 'Motorheart' is called 'Dreams On Toast' and will arrive through Cooking Vinyl on March 28. Commenting on the record, frontman Justin Hawkins said:
"You know that thing when God’s breath tickles your soul and tells you to create? Yeah, makes me giggle too. But you can’t resist. God might not be the power she once was, but say what you like about her, she knows damn well that what the world needs now, is rock sweet rock. And who are we, mere mortals of extraordinary ability, to argue with the divine?
"So we knuckled down and thought really hard about the best of the best, the elite songs, the life-changing music of the ages. Then we popped out a dozen bangers before lunch. And these bangers we present to you here, wallowing in an aromatic aural ragu, served atop the charred remains of our envious contemporaries… ladies and gentlemen, I give you 'Dreams On Toast'!”
To accompany the announcement, the Lowestoft rockers have shared a new single, The Longest Kiss, a sunny and uplifting piano-led track that offers a similar rhythmic appeal to Electric Light Orchestra's Mr. Blue Sky. Hawkins added:
"Misty Orchards! That’s not my porn name, that’s the kind of scenery that I love. I awakened to such a vista in the delightful Scottish highland town of Nairn on the morning that inspiration for The Longest Kiss lyric struck. I was bleary eyed and locked in an unending embrace with my (mid)life partner. Weird that I can still sing, but that’s a testament to the resilience of humans, especially lead singers.
"The music itself is a piano-led composition, the chorus of which my brother and I came up with after he’d taken a long time to empty his bladder during some impressive pub endurance. The verses were transposed from a song I’ve been working on for decades as part of a musical about the collapse of the Lowestoft fishing industry, called ‘The Collapse Of The Lowestoft Fishing Industry’.
"The musical isn’t finished yet. But The Longest Kiss is. The results are astounding. We’re all very proud of this. Please, to enjoy!"
The four-piece have also scheduled a UK tour for spring 2025, their biggest headline run across the UK to date. Comprising 17 shows, the Dreams On Toast Tour will begin in Ipswich before stops in Oxford, Swansea, Guildford, Hull, Liverpool, Wolverhampton, York, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Bristol, Portsmouth, Leicester, Cambridge and London, where it'll conclude at the OVO Arena Wembley on March 29.
Support will come from Ash, and tickets go on general sale at 10am next Friday (September 27).
NEW // Dig out your tightest catsuit from the back of the wardrobe (optional, but encouraged), because @thedarkness are back on tour 🚀
Yep, the band will be supporting their new album 'Dreams On Toast' with a run of UK shows this March!
Fri March 07 2025 - IPSWICH Regents Theatre
Sat March 08 2025 - OXFORD New Theatre
Sun March 09 2025 - SWANSEA Arena
Tue March 11 2025 - GUILDFORD G Live
Wed March 12 2025 - HULL Connexin Live
Fri March 14 2025 - LIVERPOOL Mountford Hall
Sat March 15 2025 - WOLVERHAMPTON Civic at the Halls
Mon March 17 2025 - YORK Barbican
Tue March 18 2025 - EDINBURGH Usher Hall
Thu March 20 2025 - GLASGOW Royal Concert Hall
Fri March 21 2025 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE O2 City Hall
Sat March 22 2025 - MANCHESTER O2 Apollo
Mon March 24 2025 - BRISTOL Beacon Theatre
Tue March 25 2025 - PORTSMOUTH Guildhall
Thu March 27 2025 - LEICESTER De Montford Hall
Fri March 28 2025 - CAMBRIDGE Corn exchange
Sat March 29 2025 - LONDON OVO Arena Wembley
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