Turin Brakes will release new album ‘Spacehopper' on 23rd May 2025 via Cooking Vinyl.
The band has celebrated the announcement by unveiling a set of tour dates across the UK and Ireland for November. ‘Spacehopper' is produced by the band alongside Grammy-winning Guy Massey. It is their first new music in over three years and marks their 10th studio album.
“We deliberately went back to Konk Studios where we made ‘The Optimist' LP, having stayed away for 25 years,” says frontman Olly Knights. “In some ways to connect to the source but also to be who we are now in that amazing room. It felt like some deep invisible forces were being moved around. The new record is totally its own thing; there are little nods to the debut, but it’s a different beast. It can never be as simple and perfect as the debut, so we didn’t try; we backed ourselves.”
“We honestly don’t normally get self-reflective but the whole album 10 thing definitely made us want to play with everything that throws up. The dreams, what worked out, what didn’t, the regrets, the nice surprises… It just seemed like a good moment to admit we’re in on our own legacy in a way. I quite flippantly said at the start we’d be a “10 albums kind of band”. I guess I meant it!”
Along with the album announcement, Turin Brakes also release the title track ‘Spacehopper' – available everywhere now. With the first taste of the new record their signature warm sound at once feels familiar, with the driving guitars and meticulously layered vocal harmonies evoking a hint of nostalgia, matched in the song’s lyrics, as Knights explains: ‘I wrote the initial idea when my younger daughters were quite literally bouncing around on the grass in the summer sun on a bright yellow space hopper. No smart phones, just a simple planet-shaped rubber ball with a smiley face, like the last 40 years had all been a weird daydream and it was in fact still 1975. Instead of taking a photo on my phone, I grabbed a guitar and out came the song; hopefully, it captured some of the joy of that moment.’
The UK & Ireland dates, with support from Tom Speight, are:
Friday 7th – BELFAST, Empire
Saturday 8th – DUBLIN, Whelan’s
Thursday 13th – SOUTHAMPTON, The Brook
Friday 14th – BRIGHTON, Concorde 2
Saturday 15th – LONDON, Electric Ballroom
Sunday 16th – BRISTOL, The Fleece
Thursday 20th – LEEDS, Brudenell Social Club
Friday 21st – GLASGOW, St Lukes
Saturday 22nd – MANCHESTER, New Century Hall
Sunday 23rd – BIRMINGHAM, Institute 2
Thursday 27th – NORWICH, Epic Studios
Friday 28th – NOTTINGHAM, Metronome
Saturday 29th – EXETER, The Phoenix
Sunday 30th – BOURNEMOUTH, Old Fire Station
