Heeding the cry that your disco needs you, multi-million streamed producer and soundtrack specialist Lack of Afro rocks the house and captures the bygone glamour of clubbing perfectly on the ‘Love Dealer’ LP
05.11 – Manchester, Band on The Wall / 06.11 – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
07.11 – Glasgow, Oran Mor / 08.11 – Edinburgh, La Belle Angele / 09.11 – Newcastle, The Cluny / 11.11 – Birmingham, The Castle & Falcon / 12.11 – Falmouth, The Cornish Bank
Icons of the original post-punk era The Psychedelic Furs are out on tour this autumn, stopping at beloved venues across the country throughout October.
This autumn, The Psychedelic Furs have announced their plans to tour the UK, bringing their British post-punk sound to a number of huge venues across the country. Playing the hits, such as “Love My Way”, “Heaven” and “Pretty In Pink”, and more as well as some deeper cuts from their back catalogue, the band promise a dazzling live show decades in the making.
Kicking off in Wolverhampton on 22nd October, the band will spend the end of October on the road making stops in Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds and more. The tour will culminate with a show at the stunning Palladium in London.
The band will be joined on tour by special guest and post-punk icon Anja Huwe, marking her first UK shows in over 15 years. The visual artist and former vocalist of German goth outfit Xmal Deutschland unveiled her debut solo record, ‘Codes’, last spring via Sacred Bones. Earlier this year, she returned to releasing with “PolarForest”, which blended her solo track “Living In The Forest” with Xmal Deutschland’s 1987 song “Polarlicht”.
The full list of UK dates can be found below. Please get in touch with rob@sonicpr.co.uk for interview time or guestlist requests.
About The Psychedelic Furs
The Psychedelic Furs may not have invented rock and roll per se, but their influence since arriving on the post-punk scorched-earth landscape four decades ago has reverberated and resonated amongst all those who cherish the sweet-and-sour spot where rawness and romanticism meet.
Born out of the UK post-punk scene and led by vocalist and songwriter Richard Butler, and his bass-wielding brother Tim, the Furs quickly developed as one of the premiere bands at college and alternative radio. They scored a flurry of major hits with “Love My Way”, “Pretty In Pink”, “Heaven”, “The Ghost In You” and “Heartbreak Beat”, in all releasing eight studio albums, spawning several compilations, a boxed set, a live concert DVD and inspiring one of the most iconic motion picture soundtracks of all time.
Nearly thirty years later, their latest release ‘Made Of Rain’ has charted in a multitude of countries and became the Furs’ second highest ranked UK album ever. It was prominently featured in end of year lists in dozens of publications worldwide.
But the Furs especially thrive live in concert, with previously headlining Glastonbury Festival, and more recently playing at esteemed venues including the Hollywood Bowl, London’s Royal Albert Hall, and New York’s Radio City Music Hall. With a dazzling live show, they continue to tour quite regularly across the globe.
The Psychedelic Furs touring lineup is Richard Butler (vocals); Tim Butler (bass); Rich Good (guitar), Amanda Kramer (keyboards), Zachary Alford (drums) and Peter DiStefano (guitar).
Mogwai today announce a UK tour for February 2026, taking in 11 dates, starting at Paisley Town Hall on 12 February and running through to O2 Apollo in Manchester on 27 February. The shows feature support from Forest Swords and follow this summer’s headline performance at South Facing Festival in London, and the band’s current, ongoing European tour. Fans can sign up for pre-sale access for the new shows, ahead of tickets going on general sale at 10am Friday 19 September. Dates are below; see www.mogwai.scot for details.
Thu 26 Feb – Gateshead – The Glasshouse International Centre for Music
Fri 27 Feb – Manchester O2 Apollo
The tour will see Mogwai performing songs from across their 30 year-spanning discography, including their 11th studio album The Bad Fire, released earlier this year to considerable critical acclaim. Produced by John Congleton (St Vincent, Angel Olsen, John Grant) at Chem19 studios in Blantyre, Scotland, the album features the singles “Lion Rumpus”, “God Gets You Back” and “Fanzine Made Of Flesh”.
A Scottish colloquialism for Hell, The Bad Fire draws inspiration from a series of tough personal moments that the band found themselves in following on from their chart-topping tenth album, 2021’s As The Love Continues. The band continued to work through this, leading to the creation of The Bad Fire: a collection of songs that forgo nostalgia and easy victories, once again finding Mogwai pushing forward with some of the most beautiful and explosive songs of their career. It is a record that retains Mogwai’s power whilst delving into fresh new territory for the band.
Mogwai – The Bad Fire art (download high res assets here)
Praise for The Bad Fire
“”Unexpectedly heavenly” – The Guardian, 4* Album Of The Week
“Luminous soundscapes” – Uncut, 8/10
“A crafted, discerning grace” – Mojo, 4*
“Powerful and profound.” – Kerrang, 4*
“Heaven or Hell, the bad fire as lit by Mogwai always offers a flame of hope” – Prog
“Some of the most euphoric music they have ever made” – DIY, 4*
“A terrific followup to Mogwai’s number 1 smash” – The Quietus
“To retain the power to surprise and delight when entering its fourth decade is something few bands can claim” – Under The Radar, 8/10
“Uplifting new dimensions to their sound” – Pitchfork
This December, Alabama 3 will return to the road for a run of UK dates, concluding with a hometown show at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire.
Last December, Alabama 3 set out on tour to celebrate the 25-year anniversary of their signature track, “Woke Up This Morning”, soundtracking the hit TV series The Sopranos. Since then, the Brixton-born roots-futurists have spent a large proportion of their time on the road, treating audiences to the sweet sounds of ‘Exile On Cold Harbour Lane’ and ‘La Peste’ a quarter of a decade after they were first released.
Although the anniversary tour has now come to a close, Alabama 3’s love affair with the road is never-ending. The band have now announced a run of dates across the UK this winter, kicking off at SWG3 in Glasgow on 4th December. From there, the band will take to stages in Manchester, Coventry and Bristol before concluding the tour with a huge homecoming show at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on 13th December.
The full list of dates can be found below. Tickets are available here.
About Alabama 3
We’re the Alabama 3. We make sweet pretty muthafuckin country acid house music. All night long. We’re not from Alabama, and there’s not three of us. We’re from Brixton, London. We’re the fellas that did that Sopranos theme tune. That tune bought someone a swimming pool, but it sure wasn’t any of us…
Alabama 3 is a pop band, a punk rock, blues and country techno situationist crypto-Marxist-Leninist electro band. We never went on X Factor or Pop Idol or Stooge Quest. We did it the old fashioned way. Back in 1996, we threw a big old party, invited all our friends. We took a fistful of blotterd and half a dozen disco biscuits and then made it up as we went along. Geffen Records bought it… for a million dollars! We never needed a self-appointed quango of jaded vampires to tell us how to sing the blues… we got mojo. We have the power to raise the dead.
We spent half of our advance from Geffen on various contraband items and with the rest we made an over-produced, brilliant situationist masterpiece called ‘Exile on Coldharbour Lane’. Ever since then we’ve been preaching our Gospel all over the world. They’ve tried to stop us. Many, many time. They say we were degenerates, corrupters of morals, they say we were too political, too contrived, too ugly. We’ve been in and out of the charts, in and out of fashion, in and out of rehab. We’ve been skint and we’ve been minted… and you know what? It makes no difference to us. Because we’re never gonna stop.
And we want to make you feel good. We know you’ve had trouble in your life, real bad trouble. We know you’ve got debts. We know you’ve had your heart broken so many times you’re still finding pieces of it in your pillow. Maybe you’ve done some good things in your life, maybe you’ve done some bad things. We forgive you. Forgive yourself. Then dress up real sexy and come and party with us some time. We’ll look after you. That’s a promise.
UK Hip-Hop/Electronic dance pioneers Stereo MC’s will return in 2025 for a brand new run of UK and Ireland shows.
Demand for Stereo MC’s remains at a high. Appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon performing “Connected” (watch here)in January, the band also recently announced a slew of US dates – their first full US route since 2001 – leading up to an appearance at the prestigious Cruel World festival on 17th May.
The band bookend a packed 2025 schedule with an 11-date UK and Ireland stretch of shows throughout November, December and January.
Kicking-off at Glasgow St Luke’s venue on 27th November, the ‘True To Life’ UK / IE Tour will take in shows in major cities like Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Birmingham and beyond, before concluding with a two-night residency at the Button Factory in the Irish capital of Dublin in January (30-31/01 2026).
Forming part of what will be Stereo MC’s’ first full European tour since 2014, the line up will feature original members Rob Birch (Rob B), Nick Hallam, and Cath Coffey, along with drummer/percussionist, Tansay Omar.
“There are many influences in the melting pot being shaped by this time we live in. In the same way as we look back for inspiration, we are charged by the present and that’s how we work: combining old methods with modern technology. The more diverse our music becomes, the happier I feel.”
While Nick adds of the upcoming tour:
“There’ll be a lot of new music… some club orientated in keeping with our label and recent outlook, and some more in the Stereo MC’s known mould. When the two merge as one, we will be there.”
Tickets for the True To Life UK / IE Tour are on sale now, with the full list of dates as follows:
Stereo MC’s are probably best known for their international Top 20 hit single ‘Connected’, which was released in 1992 and was the title track of their album the same year, reaching #2 in the UK Album Chart. It also contained the hits ‘Step It Up’, ‘Creation’, and ‘Ground Level’, and led to the group winning two Brit Awardsfor Best Group and Best Album in 1994.
Being childhood friends and neighbours, Rob Birch and Nick Hallam formed Stereo MC’s in the mid-eighties, with the pair inspired to make music by their combined love of early hip-hop, funk and electronic music.
The Stereo MC’s initially pressed their first 12” vinyl and started their own independent record label called Gee Street Records, with Kiss DJ Richie Rich and budding entrepreneur, Jon Baker.
When Gee Streetattracted the attention of 4th & Broadway in 1989, the duo recorded the debut Stereo MC’s album, ‘33-45-78’. As Nick remembers:
“When we started getting gigs around that time, we thought it would be great to have live drums, even if they made the turntables bounce around. But when we went to the States, the U.S. branch of our record company said, ‘We’re not paying for a drummer to come on tour, because you don’t do that with this type of music’. There were a few barriers to cross before dance music was established as a live music force and was given equal rights in the touring and festival scene. Island Records had a good attitude to developing young acts, though, and we were given time to grow both in the studio and on the road.”
After releasing 33-45-78, the band toured with De La Soul, Living Colour and A Certain Ratio. They then headed to New York to record their second album, ‘Supernatural’ in 1990, bearing the singles ‘Elevate My Mind’ (which made it into the US R&B Charts) and ‘Lost in Music’ which was a club hit in the UK and US. This success was further cemented when they supported Happy Mondayson a US tour.
Rob adds:
“If we weren’t on the road or making our own tracks we were remixing for other artists. Life didn’t have a clock, you just worked and vibed until you dropped on the sofa and woke up in your clothes six hours later… The summer of 1992 saw us finish our 3rd LP, Connected, which we toured solidly for about 18 months after its release. It was a big success for us and everybody involved and was a beautiful moment in our development. Navigating our way through the aftermath of over-touring fatigue and life catching up with you was challenging, and for a while the creative spark was hard to find, so we went into recluse mode and built our own studio again so we could get out of the music biz domain.”
Stereo MC’s were in demand for remix work from the likes of U2, Madonna, Tricky, Pressure Drop, David Holmes, Terranova and Mo’Wax records, as well as earlier mixes for The Jungle Brothers, Latifah and RZA.
After making a mix album for the DJ Kicks series on Studio!K7 in 1999, 2001 saw the release of the band’s fourth album ‘Deep Down & Dirty’, followed by a tour that included opening for Jane’s Addiction in the US. The album’s title track became Stereo MC’s fifth consecutive Top 20 hit single in a row.
Following recordings for Pias, K7 and Graffiti, they continued their long relationship with club music, starting the label ‘connected’ in 2015, initially to release their own new music, while also releasing other artists, and have since become established in the ever-popular Afro House genre. They have also collaborated with some of the biggest current names in house music via releases with Adam Port and Keinemusik and Stil Vor Talent, and have featured guest spots with Re.You, Anja Schneider, Fred Everything and many others.
‘True To Life’ sees the Stereo MC’s embarking on their first major European tour in over a decade later this year.
Two of the world’s greatest guitar players, Gordon Giltrap & John Etheridge, have announced they are to team up to play an extensive 2 Parts Guitar UK tour this autumn.
After the success of their 2024 tour, guitar supremos Gordon Giltrap & legendary Soft Machine guitarist John Etheridge join forces again for a new run of live shows, returning for an unforgettable evening of top class musicianship performed by two of the UKs most respected and influential musicians.
Talking about these autumn 2025 live shows, Giltrap said today; “I have known John since 1973, and we started working together under the banner 3 Parts Guitar and latterly 4 Parts Guitar about twelve years ago, This is out second UK tour as a duo and it never ceases to be a joy and inspiration working with this outstanding virtuoso.”
The two innovative guitarists will be performing songs from their extensive back catalogues with incredible new arrangements in what promises to be an electrifying show. A broad range of material from their respective careers is promised as well as other favourite pieces, reflecting each player’s musical visions and influences.
With both musicians highly respected amongst their peers (and having both worked across decades with a number of the world’s greatest artists), Etheridge was famously told “You’re great” by Jimi Hendrix, whilst Eric Clapton remarked after an early gig, “You’re not a blues player, but you’re a great guitarist.”
Tickets for the duo’s newly-announced October 2025 UK shows are on-sale now via both artists’ official websites – Gordon GiltrapandJohn Etheridge
4 October South Petherton – The David Hall
5 October Cardiff Acapela
8 October Hastings White Rock Studios
10 October Bristol Beacon
11 October Chidham – The Old Malthouse
12 October Hampton Hub
14 October York NCEM
15 October Sheffield – The Greystones
16 October Lichfield – The Hub at St Mary’s
17 October Otley Courthouse
18 October Leek Foxlowe Arts Centre
19 October Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room
22 October Deal Astor Theatre
23 October Colchester Arts Centre
24 October Wokingham Whitty Theatre
25 October Milton Keynes – The Stables
26 October Chelmsford Civic Theatre
28 October London Pizza Express Dean Street
29 October London Pizza Express Dean Street
This is a show guaranteed to enthrall guitar aficionados, acoustic enthusiasts and music lovers in general, a rare chance to witness two of the country’s most influential musicians sharing the stage for one night only.
“A timeless record that showcases Martin’s ability to create intimacy. 4/5” – DIY
3rd September 2025
Following the release of his critically acclaimed second album man oh man ! earlier this year, Martin Luke Brown today announces the deluxe edition of the record due for release on 17 October via AMK, distributed by Kartel Music Group. Available exclusively as a digital release, the expanded version features a set of live recordings captured at London’s iconic Fish Factory Studios, reimagining key tracks from the album in an intimate setting. Pre-save man oh man ! (Deluxe)here.
Martin today gives fans a taste of the deluxe project, by sharing a standout performance of ‘animal’ filmed live at Fish Factory Studios. Watch the performance here.
Speaking on the live performance tracks, Martin says “It’s been really nice experiencing the songs me and Matt Zara made in quite a locked-away space evolve, especially when bringing in a wider community of musicians for these sessions. Two big themes on the album are masculinity and community so bringing all the lads together to play feels like a very correct evolution. I’ve got so much gratitude for the community for being involved and in my life. All these people bring me so much joy and safety. That’s truly what it’s all about”.
Martin hits the road this Autumn to perform his first headline shows across the US, alongside dates in the UK and Europe. Accompanied with his live band, he’ll play LA & New York before returning to play a run of dates across the UK and into Europe before returning to play his biggest London show yet at EartH Hackney. Tickets are available and selling fast HERE.
On the upcoming dates Martin adds, “I’m nervous for sure. It’ll be so fun though,whenever I’ve done headline shows in the past it’s just been rooms bursting with love so there’s truly nothing to fear. As for the Earth show – it’s gonna be a new experience having that much space on stage, but i’m excited to run around n shit”
Released in May this year, original album man oh man ! was praised as “a timeless record that showcases Martin’s ability to create intimacy (★★★★ – DIY)”, offering a candid exploration of modern masculinity, friendship, heartbreak, and new beginnings. With the deluxe version, Martin offers fans a new lens on these songs: stripped back, recorded live, and performed with the unfiltered warmth that first inspired them.
Martin Luke Brown is a British artist, songwriter, and producer whose music fuses soulful storytelling with cinematic scope. Over the past decade, he has quietly built a rich and eclectic catalogue, collaborating with a diverse range of artists including Lizzy McAlpine, Maya Delilah, Orla Gartland, Nectar Woode, James Smith, Victoria Canal, and Sam Tompkins.
A founding member of FIZZ, the genre-defying supergroup with Orla Gartland, dodie, and Greta Isaac, Martin helped steer the band to a Top 40 debut album, a memorable Glastonbury appearance, and a run of euphoric festival performances across the UK, all within a year of their 2023 formation.
As a solo artist, Martin’s work finds strength in emotional honesty. His debut album damn, look at the view ! was described by Dork as “profound and unpretentious… a masterclass in vulnerability,” while Clash called him “one of the UK’s most quietly essential voices”, cementing his voice as part of a new generation of emotionally attuned UK songwriters. His track ‘**it get’s better’ was featured in Netflix’s Heartstopper (Season 3), one of the most notable British coming-of-age TV series of recent times.
His anticipated follow-up man oh man !, released earlier this year, is a candid exploration of masculinity, closure, and new beginnings. As Clash writes: “It isn’t a solution, but it’s an encapsulation of the journey… a precious document of personal wisdom”, with DIY praising it as “a timeless record that showcases his ability to create intimacy”. Through singles like ‘back 2 ya’, ‘to be a man’, ‘animal’ and ‘hello !’, Martin explores the evolution of male identity and stereotypes with a fresh and urgent perspective. This timely and resonant message earned him airplay from BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 Music, and Selector Radio.
Other recent highlights include Martin’s support to Emily King on her US tour, alongside a run of sold out album in-stores. Martin will head back across the Atlantic for his first headline American tour later this month, followed by a European run and his biggest London headline show to date at EartH.
LIVE
23 Sep – Moroccan Lounge, Los Angeles (US)
25 Sep – Baby’s All Right, New York (US)
01 Oct – Yes Basement, Manchester (UK)
02 Oct – Rough Trade, Bristol (UK)
03 Oct – Supersonic Records, Paris (FR)
06 Oct – Cinetol, Amsterdam (NL)
09 Oct – Lark, Berlin (DE)
11 Oct – Isolation Festival, Budapest (HU)
16 Oct – EartH Theatre, London (UK)
man oh man ! (Deluxe) by Martin Luke Brown is released on 17 October via AMK, distributed via Kartel Music Group. Pre-save it here.
Kathryn Williams, the folk singer-songwriter long celebrated for her emotional depth and lyrical precision, releases her 15th studio album ‘Mystery Park’ via One Little Independent Records on September 26th. A deeply personal, intimate collection, ‘Mystery Park’ marks 27 years of making music. It’s a reflective, textured work shaped by time’s shifting tides.
Known for her delicate, moving voice and poetic songwriting, Williams rose to prominence in 2000 with ‘Little Black Numbers’, the self-released album that earned her a Mercury Prize nomination and became a touchstone for a new generation of British folk. Over the decades since, her output has been both prolific and shapeshifting. She’s written a novel (The Ormering Tide), hosted a podcast (Before the Light Goes Out), worked as a visual artist, collaborated with a wide array of musicians from John Martyn and Paul Weller to Ed Harcourt and Withered Hand, and released celebrated projects across genres, including her Christmas album, ‘Midnight Chorus’, with Dame Carol Ann Duffy. Her most recent release, ‘Willson Williams’ was SAY and Americana Award-nominated as well as receiving critical praise.
New single ‘Goodbye to Summer’, co-written with Polly Paulusma during an Arvon retreat, is breezy and bittersweet, a song suffused with colour. Kathryn tells us they were “outside on two wooden chairs watching the dying sunlight tip off the wings of the swallows and the swifts. The last hurrah of summer before they fly away. The seasons begin to mark more and more. How many summers do we have in one life? Will the birds fly back home? Polly writes in open tunings so the new paths to melodies felt giddying and fresh.”
With ‘Mystery Park’, Williams returns to the sparse and affecting sonic palette that marked her early releases ‘Old Low Light’ and ‘Relations’. These are songs made in the quiet margins of motherhood and memory, written over time, and recorded in close creative communion with trusted collaborators; Leo Abrahams (guitar, piano, bass, vocals), Neill MacColl (guitar, vocals), Polly Paulusma (guitar, vocals), Chris Vatalaro (drums), Ed Harcourt (piano, mariachi bass, vocals), David Ford (harmonica) & rock royalty Paul Weller (Hammond organ, vocals).
“This is the most personal record I’ve made,” says Williams. “The artwork is my own painting, based on the willow pattern from my grandmother’s tea sets. Each part of it ties into the songs – a map of memories.”
‘Gossamer Wings’ is a collaboration with Paul Weller. Built from voice notes and texts, it captures a moment of creative chemistry born at a distance, with Kathryn’s enthusiasm tempered into something tender and unforced. “My eagerness to show him I was diligent made me barge on ahead without him on this one, but we pulled it together and I calmed the heck down for the second sitting. This was based on the title that Paul had and an idea of spirits breaking free from the constraints.”
‘This Mystery’ offers one of the album’s most arresting metaphors; a record shattered in the road becomes a symbol for her father’s dementia. “Memory being unplayable in the form that it was in,” she says. “But this is a song for him, not the disease. Anyone who has had a loved one diagnosed with this cruelty will know how you just want to paint their skies blue and make everything all right.”
There are moving tributes throughout. ‘Sea of Shadows’ is for her eldest son, Louis, a warm and reflective song about watching him grow from infant to adult. “Parenthood isn’t fixed. We think we will have small kids forever, but time quickens and before we know it, we have huge humans living with us where once there was a little baby. I love singing this song and thinking of him through the different images and travelling through time”. Likewise, closing track, ‘Servant of the Flame’, is written for her younger son, Ted, and the act of simply sitting beside him while he plays video games – choosing presence, even in small moments, as an act of love. “Watching them evolve into their own identities. Seeing them struggle and hoping that they can navigate the ups and downs that we all face in life.”
Throughout ‘Mystery Park’, there’s a sense that we are being welcomed into a private, shifting landscape where time folds, memory flickers, and the interior world is given centre stage. It’s an album made slowly and with care, with contributions from some of Kathryn’s closest musical companions. In a landscape often geared toward immediacy and spectacle, ‘Mystery Park’ stands as a gentle refusal. It invites the listener to slow down, to sit with the quiet revelations of a life observed closely, lived fully, and rendered in song with grace and generosity.
“This record is for anyone who’s felt something and kept it quiet,” says Williams. “For those private echoes. I hope these songs give people space to hear their own.”
Kathryn Williams plays the following UK live shows this autumn;
To celebrate the rerelease of her classic ‘90s albums ‘Boomania’ and ‘GRRR! It’s Betty Boo’ in spring, Betty Boo has spent much of 2025 on the road as part of her first ever UK tour. Throughout the summer, the hip-hop icon made stops at some of the most beloved independent venues in the country, from the Trades Club in Hebden Bridge to The Joiners in Southampton, stunning audiences with her vocal talents and pop prowess along the way.
Now, she’s shared her plans to do it all over again, announcing major city shows for this winter. On 19th November, Betty Boo kicks off another run of dates across the UK and Ireland with a night at the Castle & Falcon in Birmingham. From there, she’ll venture to iconic venues including YES in Manchester, Clwb Ifor Bach in Cardiff, and Bush Hall in London, amongst others. The full list of dates can be found below.
Performing all of the hits from ‘Boomania’ and ‘GRRR! It’s Betty Boo’, as well as tracks from her 2022 comeback album ‘Boomerang’ and 2024’s Top 40 follow-up ‘Rip Up The Rulebook’, Betty Boo’s live show is not one to be missed. Tickets are on sale on 29th August and are available from Betty’s website here.
About Betty Boo
Hip-Hop pioneer and 9’0s icon Betty Boo is a platinum-selling, Brit, and Ivor Novello Award-winning singer-songwriter and rapper. She is best known for her hits “Doin’ The Do” and “Where Are You Baby?” which propelled her into the spotlight in 1990. In 2022, after a 30 year hiatus, Betty Boo made an unexpected return with the critically acclaimed, radio smash-filled album ‘Boomerang’. She followed this with her 2024 UK Top 40 album, ‘Rip Up The Rulebook’, which has been universally described as her best album to date.
35 years later, Betty Boo’s hits remain deeply loved, and she is celebrating this monumental milestone with special edition re-releases of her two classic 90s albums: ‘Boomania’ and ‘GRRR! It’s Betty Boo’, as well as her first ever UK tour.
The track, which premiered earlier this morning on Lauren Laverne’s BBC 6Music radio show, is the final cut to be unveiled from the band’s new album Bless You & Be Well, out this Friday 29th August via Communion Records. Pre-order here.
Speaking about the release, guitarist and vocalist Mike Wagstaff says: “At the time of writing ‘Moon Man’ I was in a constant state of missing someone, so I felt qualified to write this song.
In Chinese mythology Chang’e was the wife of legendary archer Hou Yi, who was revered in legend for having shot down 9 of the 10 suns that were scorching the earth, leaving just one.
For this feat he was awarded an elixir of immortality, the elixir however contained only enough for one person. Hou Yi’s love for Chang’e was strong and not wanting to live forever without his wife he decided not to drink the elixir, but to entrust it to his wife so no one would drink it.
One day, his apprentice attempted to take the elixir for himself and in a desperate attempt to prevent him, Chang’e drank it herself. The elixir floated her to the moon, where she would go on to become the Moon Goddess, leaving her husband Hou Yi behind, mortal and heartbroken.
Hou Yi shouted to the sky and caught sight of a figure that resembled Chang’e swaying on the moon, and so would display fruits, cakes and other offerings at times of a full moon, to try to convey how much he missed her.”
The latest release also comes with the announcement of further EU tour dates for 2025, off the back of the band’s recent run of European festivals this summer including Hungary’s Sziget and Germany’s Heldern Pop.
The group will celebrate their new album with a selection of listening parties and record shop in-store dates in the coming days, before later embarking on a UK headline tour this autumn.
Chartreuse’s previous single releases ‘More’, ‘Fold’, ‘I’m Losing It’ and ‘Sequence of Voices’ have gained consistent radio support from BBC Radio 1 & BBC 6Music, as well as press acclaim from Wonderland, Rough Trade, Clash, The Line of Best Fit, whynow, Far Out, The New Cue and Rolling Stone UK, who quoted 2025 as being a “transformative year for the band.”
ABOUT CHARTREUSE
For Chartreuse, the rural Icelandic studio Flóki served as a refuge in a myriad of ways. Set in a secluded location on the northern tip of the island, a five-hour drive from Reykjavík, the Black Country band’s two-week stay here in the summer of 2024 was one of escape, connection and understanding. They returned home with a special, urgent and necessary new album, Bless You & Be Well.
The dynamic of the Black Country band feels wholeheartedly distinct. The four-piece are intimately interconnected – brothers Mike (guitar, vocals) and Rory Wagstaff (drums) are joined by Rory’s long-term partner Hattie Wilson (piano, vocals) and Hattie’s childhood friend Perry Lovering (bass).
Their 2023 debut Morning Ritual introduced a group that swerved the traditional tropes of indie-rock bands, instead using their instruments and innovative production techniques in unusual and thrilling ways. They set a precedent of equality from day one, with the instruments they play all interchangeable, and no lead songwriter dictating their every move. This remains the case. Music for them is like pulling puzzle pieces out of the air, fitting things in the right configuration.
But now, on their new album Bless You & Be Well, it’s each of their personal experiences which inform their new material.
Their latest recordings were brought to life with producer Sam Petts-Davies (The Smile) and engineer Oli Middleton. Having self-produced their debut album, bringing other minds into their creative fold was daunting at first. But it quickly became one of their best decisions. Gut instincts presided over second-guessing; if it sounded good in the moment, it stayed. If it didn’t, they tried something else. As Petts-Davies, a calm and easy-going antidote to the band’s self-declared perfectionists, told them: “You are a band and this is how you sound, so let’s just run with it.”
No people, no limits, no distractions… all external noise was shut out, allowing Bless You & Be Well to become their most expansive album to date. But their remote location in Iceland provided a sanctuary in more ways than one, offering them a vital reprieve from the personal struggles that each of the band members were facing in their own lives.
For Lovering, navigating the grief of their late father’s passing bled into the creation of Chartreuse’s latest songs. Yet rather than drowning in existentialism, Lovering learned that grief doesn’t have to be the end, and that the pursuit of creating things that make you happy – in his case, making music – is ultimately what makes life worth living.
For Wilson, the anxieties of undergoing major surgery at just 29-years-old, learning to walk properly again, and the long road to recovery that still lies ahead for her shaped her approaches to the band’s new music. Initially guilty that it would affect those around her, opening up has not only been a learning curve, but also a humbling experience to witness the care that her friends, family and bandmates are more than willing to give.
Only a band as strongly connected for so many years could create such a space for each other in order to disappear into their music together, Wilson says: “To have those bonds within the band is really special and we can naturally pick up on each other’s cues. I don’t know if it would work with any other people, or if we would be able to be totally ourselves, or as accepting of each other on what anyone’s going through.”
Being in a band is a necessary part of life for Chartreuse. Writing music offers them a canvas to lay bare their emotions. But while informed by struggle and grief, their new music isn’t defined by it. Instead, it’s a window through which to understand both yourself and those around you better and more deeply. It also affirms the power of something as seemingly trivial as being in a band, and of music as a way to understand and move through life.
It all culminates in a fresh new chapter for Chartreuse, imbued with a palpable sense of honesty and introspectiveness that will no doubt resonate with others far and wide.
Chartreuse Live Dates:
(*) with support from Moreish Idols
(+) with support from Lavender
(**) co-headline with Moreish Idols
Thursday 28th August – The Bread & Butter Collective, London (album release party)
Saturday 30th August – Banquet Records, Kingston (in-store)
Sunday 31st August – Rough Trade, Bristol (in-store)
Monday 1st September – Truck Records, Oxford (in-store)
Tuesday 2nd September – Crash Records, Leeds (in-store)
Thursday 30th October – Green Door Store, Brighton (+)
Saturday 1st November – Bradshaw Hall, Birmingham (+)
Tuesday 4th November – King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow (**)
Thursday 6th November – Three Tanners Bank, North Shields (*)
Friday 7th November – Deaf Institute Lodge, Manchester (*)
Saturday 8th November – Mash, Cambridge (*)
Monday 10th November – The Lanes, Bristol (*)
Tuesday 11th November – Forum, Royal Tunbridge Wells (*)
Thursday 13th November – St Peter’s Church, Poole (*)
Friday 14th November – Bush Hall, London (*)
Saturday 15th November – Live at Leeds in the City
