The band posted the cover, as seen below, saying about the EP: “It’s finally here, our debut EP is out now. We’re extremely proud to put this out into the world,. It’s our best work to date, but this is just the start.”

The first single “Screw Loose” was announced on Instagram in January. The band’s frontman and bassist, James Porter, describes the song as the “anthem for the wasted, drug induced youth of my hometown.” He talks about the lyric: “And it feels good, and I don’t know why”, saying how it “is a small insight into the dysfunctionality and delusions within the culture of drug use.”

“Screw Loose” was pushed by BBC introducing, John Kennedy of Radio x, and Alex Baker from Kerrang Radio, as well as being played on radio 1 by Alyx Holcombe. This song, as well as the second single “White Rabbit”, show clear inspiration from energetic 70s English punk bands, whilst also harnessing heavy-hitting elements of 90s grunge bands such as Nirvana and Soundgarden. It can be listened to below:

The trio are a growing favourite in the ever growing, South-East England, Hastings-to-Brighton scene, performing alongside other bands such as Kid Kapichi and Hot Wax. SNAYX recently announced that Monakis would be supporting them on their debut headline tour around the UK, playing at all fourteen of the scheduled shows, as publicised here.

Illustrating the immense support that this group of up-and-coming artists all show each other, Kid Kapichi’s own Ben Beetham produced the debut record. This support can also be found as all of the band’s comment on, like, and share each others posts, showing a refreshing display of enthusiam for their fellow creators.

To celebrate the release of the EP, the band are playing a sold-out show at Brighton’s famous Green Door Store tomorrow night, on the 2nd of June. The bands supporting are Mind Frame and Jar of Blind Flies. They promoted the show on Instagram, as shown above. It is the second time that the band have sold out this venue.

Listen to the EP below:

All announced dates for Monakis can be viewed below:

02/06/2023 – The Green Door Store – Brighton

15/07 – Off The Cuff – London (supporting Deadair)

27/08 – What’s Happening Weekender at Deadwax – Birmingham

07/10– Clwb Ifor Bach – Cardiff (Supporting Snayx)

08/10 – The Jericho – Oxford (Supporting Snayx)

10/10 – Horn – St Albans (Supporting Snayx)

11/10 – The Old Blue Last – London (Supporting Snayx)

12/10 – Yes Basement – Manchester (Supporting Snayx)

13/10 – Sidney & Matilda – Sheffield (Supporting Snayx)

16/10 – Bobiks – Newcastle (Supporting Snayx)

17/10 – The Poetry Club, Swg3 – Glasgow (Supporting Snayx)

18/10 – Bodega Social – Nottingham (Supporting Snayx)

19/10 – Patterns – Brighton (Supporting Snayx)

21/10 – The Piper – St Leonards (Supporting Snayx)

23/10 – The Joiners – Southampton (Supporting Snayx)

24/10 – Exchange – Bristol (Supporting Snayx)

Tickets for the individual shows, and more information on the band can be found here.

Hot Wax, who are playing on the Western leg of the tour, announced the news on Instagram. They said, as shown below, “This is insane! we are headed to America for the first time in november supporting Royal Blood on the west coast leg of their tour. hope you like rock music”

Hot Wax have generated a lot of buzz this year, especially after performing a lengthy string of great shows around the United Kingdom. Their sound is a blend of grunge, heavy guitar, and impressive lyrics which are often sung by all three band members; a mix which makes them a key feature in the current rock scene that prevails in the South East. NME.com even wrote an article about them, saying they could be “Britain’s next great guitar band“.

The band, featuring three 18-year-olds from Hastings, released their debut EP A Thousand Times on May 19th with Marathon Artists. It garnered great reviews across the internet and social media. The lead single “Rip It Out” was premiered on BBC Radio 1’s Future Alternative segment on May 22nd.

The official video for the song can be viewed below:

Supporting Royal Blood will be the first time the band have toured outside of the UK.

On the other end, Bad Nerves, a five-piece punk band from London, are the support for the Eastern leg of the tour.  They announced the news on twitter, as shown below:

NORTH AMERICA HERE WE COME @royalblooduk pic.twitter.com/EADMN08F61

— BAD NERVES (@BADBADNERVES) May 30, 2023

The band self-describe themselves to “play ferociously fast distorted pop songs, with melodies that hook so deep, even the most skilled lobotomist would struggle to scrape them out.” Their debut, self-titled, and only album came out in 2020, and the band have an impressive 420,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. Adding fuel to the metaphorical fire, the band released a live album this year, aptly titled Alive In London.

The band supported Royal Blood already at a massive show at Nottingham Rock City on the 26th of May, and are set to support them again at a sold out show in Newcastle on the 21st of June. They are also supporting Nothing But Thieves in Luxembourg in June, and are set to play under rock giants Guns N Roses, The Pretenders, and The Darkness at Hyde Park this summer.

Listen to “Can’t Be Mine” from Bad Nerves below:

The announcement of both Bad Nerves and Hot Wax supporting them in North America is huge news for all parties.

The news of support acts comes after Royal Blood announced a UK and Ireland tour as well, set to happen this October. This is shown here:

Despite all of the news, Royal Blood very recently courted controversy after having a meltdown on stage whilst performing at Radio 1’s Big Weekend. Read more about it here.

Royal Blood UK and Ireland tour (takes place between Eastern and Western legs of US tour):

20/10/2023 – O2 Apollo – Manchester
22/10 – Globe – Stockton
24/10 – Eventim Apollo – London
25/10 – Mountford Hall – Liverpool
26/10 – Wolverhampton Hall – Wolverhampton
27/10 – Guildhall – Portsmouth
29/10 – Telegraph Building – Belfast
30/10 – 3Olympia Theatre – Dublin

The North American tour dates are as follows:

Royal Blood with Bad Nerves:

16/09/2023 – Sea.Hear.Now Festival, Asbury Park – New Jersey
18/09 – The Fillmore Detroit – Detroit, Michigan
19/09 – Agora Theatre – Cleveland, Ohio
21/09 – Louder Than Life Festival – Louisville, Kentucky
22/09 – The Pageant – St. Louis, Missouri
23/09 – Riviera Theatre – Chicago, Illinois
25/09 – Queen Elizabeth Theatre – Toronto, Ontario
26/09 – MTELUS – Montreal, Quebec
27/09 – Roadrunner – Boston, Massachusetts
29/09 – College St. Music Hall – New Haven, Connecticut
30/09 – The Fillmore – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

02/10 – Brooklyn Steel – Brooklyn, New York
3/10 – Webster Hall – New York City, New York

Royal Blood with Hot Wax:

09/11/2023 – The Wiltern – Los Angeles, California
10/11 – Fox Theater – Oakland, California
11/11 – The Catalyst – Santa Cruz, California
13/11 – Paramount Theatre – Seattle, Washington
14/11 – Queen Elizabeth Theatre – Vancouver, British Columbia
15/11 – Crystal Ballroom – Portland, Oregon
17/11 – Union Event Center – Salt Lake City, Utah
18/11 – Gothic Theatre – Englewood, Colorado
20/11 – Cain’s Ballroom – Tulsa, Oklahoma
21/11 – South Side Ballroom – Dallas, Texas
22/11 – ACL Live at The Moody Theater – Austin, Texas
25/11 – Sunshine Theater – Albuquerque, New Mexico
26/11 – The Van Buren – Phoenix, Arizona
27/11 – The Sound – San Diego, California

All available tickets for the UK are available here. Tickets for the US shows can be found here.

Their new album Back To The Water Below is due to be released September 8th.

They announced the show on Instagram, saying “HERE WE GO THEN. Tickets for the biggest party of 2023 are on sale now!!!” The poster can be seen below:

They followed on, saying “Can’t wait to see all of our beautiful mates across the UK – we have so much in store for you. Joined by shelflives + monakis, it’s a show you do not want to miss.”

The band, pronounced ‘Snakes’, began in 2019 as a duo in Seaford- a small town near Brighton in the South East of England, best known for the beach. Their first single “False Friends” was met with acclaim and the band have since toured with big acts such as Nova Twins, Kid Kapichi, and more.

The duo, Ollie Horner (bassist/guitarist) and Charlie Herridge (the frontman/guitarist) recently welcomed a third member into the group: Lainey, who plays hard-hitting drums and hails from Sheffield. On Instagram, as shown below, they said regarding the change: “And then there were three. Officially welcoming the icon, force of nature and best mate lainey loops / Slainey / Laino as a full time member of SNAYX. In our final form and couldn’t be happier working on something we can’t tell you about yet xxx”

They described their sound here: “We’re a little bit of this and a little bit of that, we mostly take inspiration from punk and mod subculture but there’s elements of Grime, Dance and Rave culture in there too. We don’t like to pigeonhole ourselves to one sound or style – Spice of life baby!”

This will be the band’s first headline tour ever, bringing another band from the south-east with them: Brighton band Monakis. Monakis recently performed a sell-out headline show at Brighton’s Green Door Store and released grunge single “White Rabbit“, which is the second single from their forthcoming EP, due to be released in June. They will be performing alongside post-punk, Canadia-British outfit Shelf Lives.

Snayx’s latest single “Boys In Blue” was released last week, and the official music video can be watched below:

The tour dates are as follows:

07/10/2023 – Clwb Ifor Bach – Cardiff
08/10 – The Jericho – Oxford
10/10 – Horn – St Albans
11/10 – The Old Blue Last – London
12/10 – Yes Basement – Manchester
13/10 – Sidney & Matilda – Sheffield
14/10 – Venue to be announced
16/10 – Bobiks – Newcastle
17/10 – The Poetry Club, Swg3 – Glasgow
18/10 – Bodega Social – Nottingham
19/10 – Patterns – Brighton
21/10 – The Piper – St Leonards
23/10 – The Joiners – Southampton
24/10 – Exchange – Bristol

Other UK dates coming up:

25/05/2023 – Bearded Theory Festival – Derbyshire

08/06 – Download Festival – Donnington

10/06 – Bedford Esquires – Bedford

05/07 – 2000Trees Festival – Cheltenham

08/07 – Seaview Festival – Bexhill

21/07 – Leopallooza Festival – Cornwall

05/01/2024 – Rockaway Beach 2024 at Butlins – Bognor Regis

All tickets are available on their official website here.

Maisie Peters announced the tour on Instagram, as shown below, saying: “gonna be doing these little acoustic evenings to celebrate the good witch release, where i’ll be talking through the album and its creation, playing some songs, spilling some secrets, pouring my heart out to u all”

It is the one of three tours the singer has embarked on this year, as well as numerous festivals.

Before announcing one of the acoustic dates in Brighton, Peters played a headline show at the Brighton Dome last week; a landmark venue in her hometown. She wrote on Instagram: “whenever my manager asks me and the band what are our dream venues are, joel says red rocks and tina says madison square and i say brighton dome. so last night was pretty cool :’) felt very hometown hero last night playing a show in the place i first ever really loved live music, thank u anyone who came and sang with me <3”

Maisie Peters has been a growing name in the UK and around the world since 2018. She released two singles independently before signing with Atlantic Records in 2018. Following on, she released two EP’s: Dressed Too Nice for a Jacket in 2018 and It’s Your Bed Babe, It’s Your Funeral in 2019. She has been a support act for household names such as Niall Horan and Ed Sheeran, the latter of whom signed her to his own record label Gingerbread Man Records in 2021.

With them, she released her first album You Signed Up For This, which debuted at #2 on the UK top charts. The first single “Body Better” off the new album was released in January, and the second “Lost The Breakup” was released at the start of April. Read more about the UK winter tour dates and announcements here,

More information on the latest single “Lost The Breakup” can be found here, and streamed below:

Tickets go on sale here, on Monday 22nd, at 12pm BST. Available tickets for other shows this year can also be found on the same page.

The acoustic show dates are as follows:

13/06/2023 – Empire – Coventry

14/06 – Metronome – Nottingham

19/06 – Pryzm – Kingston

20/06 – Engine Rooms – Southampton

21/06 – Chalk – Brighton

09/07 – Liquid Rooms – Edinburgh

These are the dates and places for the ROAD TO WEMBLEY tour this winter:

17/10/2023 – O2 Academy – Glasgow

19/10 – O2 Academy – Leeds

21/10 – O2 Apollo – Manchester

29/10 – O2 Academy – Birmingham

01/11 – O2 Academy – Bristol

03/11 – OVO Wembley Arena – London

Other UK dates this year:

08/07/2023 – TRNSMT Festival at Glasgow Green – Glasgow

22/07 – Truck Festival at Hill Farm – Oxfordshire

28/07 – YNOT festival at Pikehall – Derbyshire

Pre-order/save the album here.

They announced the lineup on Instagram, as shown below. Organiser Billy Bragg, a known musician and activist, captioned the poster of the lineup with this:

“As the shape of the post-pandemic world begins to form, it’s clear that people are more willing to stand up and be counted. Workers are striking, agitators are mobilising, and the fight for truth and justice is becoming ever more urgent. At Left Field, we’re responding to this clamour by bringing you voices from the front line of the struggle in debate and performance. Whether it’s radical perspectives or great music you want, stand up and be counted at Left Field.“

On Friday the 23rd, there are four artists lined up to perform. First up are post-punk outfit Deadletter, hailing from Yorkshire. Drawing on influences such as The Pogues and Tom Tom Club, the band are bringing a heavier essence to the Left Field after completing their Spring Agenda tour. Cassyette, a nu-metal singer-songwriter, is playing following the release of her newest single “Boom“, followed by Teesside punk band Benefits. Finally for the night, is one of the organisers himself, Billy Bragg.

Saturday features five acts, including two big up and coming names, Crawlers and Hastings band Kid Kapichi. It is both bands’ debut Glastonbury festival shows. Crawlers posted the announcement on their Instagram page below, saying “someone pinch me!!! see you at Glastofest.”

Crawlers recently released their single “That time of year always” via Polydor records, and it has garnered over 200,000 streams on Spotify. They are playing alongside Big Joanie, Delilah Bon, and rapper Dreya Mac.

For the last day, Tom A Smith, who was handpicked by Elton John to support him for his Hyde Park show is starting off the night. Afterwards, Will Varley and Lime Garden are playing sets. Lime Garden posted on Instagram, shown below, saying “We are unbelievably excited to say we are PLAYING GLASTO BABY!!!!!!! Catch us @glastoleftfield on Sunday…CANNOT wait to meet slash.”

Finishing off the event completely, is Cavetown. He is an English singer-songwriter who has had massive hits with “Devil Town”, “Juliet”, “Boys Will Be Bugs“, and “This Is Home“. These four songs alone have garnered over a billion streams on Spotify, and Glastonbury is just one of many festivals that Cavetown is scheduled to perform at this summer.

The political event, whose slogan is “Charge Your Activism“, not only has twenty-two artists and bands scheduled to perform, but also features six crucial, political debates across the weekend. This is a key part of the Left Field, which was first designed to tackle apathy, and to promote left-wing politics and trade unionism in young festival goers.

Michael Eavis originally started the Left Field Tent, in 2002. He explains on the website: “The Worker’s Beer Company and myself started the Left Field Tent, following our tradition of campaigning for CND and helping the miners who were totally destroyed by Maggie in the eighties.”

He continued: “And before that there was the huge surge of interest in the Green movement’s efforts to clean up our country when the eco warriors arrived here in all their glory in the seventies. Fortunately for us all, Billy and Juliet have now picked up the baton. Their passion and integrity is what’s needed to run the Left Field Tent to fight for a change and give our poorer people just half a chance to live decent, happy and worthwhile lives.”

Glastonbury takes place at Worthy Farm, Somerset, between the 21st and 25th June. Left Field will be Friday to Sunday, between the 23rd and 25th. Tickets are sold out.

Information on the full line up can be accessed here.

Also, here a lucky couple won tickets to glastonbury!

A press release detailed Johnny Marr and his band’s hectic schedule for 2023, saying that the headline shows join a busy summer festival schedule that will see Johnny Marr and his band perform at Pennfest, South Facing Festival, Lakefest, Beautiful Days, Hardwick Festival, Helsinki Festival, Victorious and more, all set to take place through July, August and September 2023. Two huge shows conclude the year’s shows at Edinburgh’s Royal Highland Centre and Belfast’s Vital Festival with American rock band The Killers.

Alongside a poster of all the dates on Instagram, he said “Looking forward to getting back out there with my band.”

The tour announcement follows Johnny Marr revealing news of his new book “Marrs Guitars“. He said on Instagram, along with the post below: “I’m very pleased to announce the publication of my book Marr’s Guitars which as a project has been a labour of love over the last two years. The book is a collection of amazing photographs taken by my friend Pat Graham in his own unique style and documents my life and career through the stories of over a hundred of my guitars. I think a lot of people will love it.”

A press release called it a “stunning new photography book presenting the most significant of Marr’s extensive collection of electric and acoustic guitars, revealing through them the evolution of his iconic sound and style of playing. Including personal reflections and insights written by Johnny, and photographs shot by Pat Graham, each guitar is identified with a crucial moment, a specific song or a particular sound, and each embodies a key aspect of Marr’s lifelong passion.” You can pre-order ‘Marr’s Guitars’ via Thames & Hudson here. He released another book, his autobiography, titled Set The Boy Free in 2016.

Johnny Marr has been busy for the past two years, especially since the release of his 2022 fourth album Fever Dreams Pts 1-4. The album debuted at number 4 on the UK albums charts. It was his first album since 2013. In the same year, Johnny Marr headlined the BBC 6 Music Festival, toured with Blondie as the special guest at their Against The Odds arena shows, and completed a three-month arena tour across Canada and North America with The Killers, who they are touring with again this year in Glasgow and Belfast.

You can listed to Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 here: 

Johnny Marr first achieved success as guitarist and co-songwriter of English rock band The Smiths between 1982 and 1987. Since then, Johnny Marr has also been a member of many massive bands, including The Pretenders, The The, Electronic, The Cribs, Modest Mouse and is a session musician. He has worked with Pet Shop Boys, Talking Heads, Hans Zimmer, and in 2022, contributed to “Pretty Boy”, the first single to be released from consistent collaborator Noel Gallagher’s upcoming new solo album Council Skies. Johnny performs on several of the tracks.

Here are the dates for the new tour:

17/07/2023 – Picturedrome – Holmfirth

18/07 – Engine Shed – Lincoln

20/07 – Roadmender – Northampton

27/07 – Assembly Hall – Tunbridge Wells

09/08 – The Rockin Chair – Wrexham

16/08 – Cheese and Grain – Frome

17/08 – SU Main Hall – Plymouth

25/08 – Empire – Middlesbrough

Tickets are on sale from Friday 28th April at 10:00 BST Here.

His festival dates in the UK this year:

21/07/2023 – Pennfest – Buckinghamshire

28/07 – South Facing Festival – Crystal Palace

10/08 – Lakefest – Hertfordshire

18/08 – Beautiful Days – Devon

20/08 – Hardwick Festival – Durham

26/08 – The Piece Hall – Halifax

27/08 – Victorious – Portsmouth

29/08 – Royal Highland Centre – Edinburgh (with The Killers)

01/09 – Vital Festival – Belfast (with The Killers)

Tickets can be purchased here.

She announced the Road To Wembley Tour on Instagram, as seen below, saying: “ROAD TO WEMBLEY TOUR 2023! the good witch is getting her own yellow brick road! this uk tour has been such a dream and now we get to do it again in october the very season of the witch herself and the album will be out and i will get to hear from all the ppl in my heart once again <3333 if u preorder the album u will get a special presale code next week before general sale starts next friday i literally cannot wait :’)”

The announcement comes right before playing a sold out show at Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, London tonight (27/04/23) to end her current UK tour. The final show of the ROAD TO WEMBLEY tour is also tremendously taking place in London, at OVO Arena Wembley. The show, which is the biggest headline show of Peters’ career so far, was previously announced in February, after she made public the release date of her second album.

She announced the show on Instagram below, saying “i truly cannot believe i am saying this but … i am going to be playing ovo wembley arena on the 3rd november 2023.” She continued to say, “this is gonna be the most magical show yet, my biggest headline show ever + the album will be out + of course there will be fun surprises and perhaps even specials guests.”

Maisie Peters’ independently released two singles before signing to Atlantic Records in 2018. With Atlantic records, she released two EP’s called Dressed Too Nice for a Jacket and It’s Your Bed Babe, It’s Your Funeral. She has been a support act for many big names, including Niall Horan and Ed Sheeran, whom signed her to his own record label Gingerbread Man Records in 2021. With them, she released her first album You Signed Up For This, which debuted at #2 on the UK top charts. The first single “Body Better” off the new album was released in January, and the second was released at the start of April.

More information on the Wembley show, the new album, and her latest single can be found here.

Listen the the new single “The Good Witch” below:

You can preorder the second album here.

These are the dates and places for the ROAD TO WEMBLEY tour this winter:

17/10/2023 – O2 Academy – Glasgow

19/10 – O2 Academy – Leeds

21/10 – O2 Apollo – Manchester

29/10 – O2 Academy – Birmingham

01/11 – O2 Academy – Bristol

03/11 – OVO Wembley Arena – London

Other UK dates this year:

27/04/2023 – Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith – London

30/04 – Liverpool Sound City – Liverpool

12/05 – The Great Escape – Brighton

08/07 – TRNSMT Festival – Glasgow

22/07 – Truck Festival – Oxfordshire

28/07 – YNOT festival – Derbyshire

Tickets can be purchased for the ROAD TO WEMBLEY TOUR on Friday 5th May on her official website here, where you can also find any available tickets for all other shows. The fan pre-sale for the new tour is available from the 3rd of May, and more information about obtaining access for this is available on the website.

In the UK, the band will be supported by a variety of great acts.

In London on the 3rd of June, they will be joined by Dream Wife, an indie/punk/pop-rock three-piece from Brighton. The trio posted on their official Instagram their excitement. Along with their kind words in the post below, they captioned it saying that they are “So excited & honoured” and posted a photo of them, saying the “pic is us in Bella’s uni bedroom probably listening to Le Tigre around the time we started Dream Wife.” They cite Le Tigre, and more specifically, lead singer Kathleen Hanna, as a clear influence.

For both the Manchester and the Glasgow show, the band will be joined by Problem Patterns.

Problem Patterns are a DIY feminist queer-punk band, hailing from Belfast, Northern Ireland. They posted on Instagram, as seen below, saying “This is not a drill. We’re opening for the legendary @letigreworld this June at BOTH their Manchester and Glasgow dates! Words can’t express our excitement and gratitude. We all already bought tickets and it’s a dream come true that we get to play on these shows instead. Tickets are on sale now! These are our biggest shows to date and it would mean the world to see some familiar faces!”

Kathleen Hanna herself once said that she loves the band Problem Patterns “because they make weird music for right now that sounds like no one else and I am addicted.”

Other acts supporting them across the rest of their tour include Shamir, Morgan and the Organ Donors, Claud, Big Joanie, MAN ON MAN, Chicks on Speed, Pom Pom Squad, Who is She?, Erin Markey, cumgirl8, Morgan Bassichis & HYD.

Following the break up of riot girl-band Bikini Kill in 1998, lead singer Kathleen Hanna formed Le Tigre with Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning. Benning shortly left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson. Their website says they “formed as an obstinately hopeful, even joyous, post-riot grrrl project in New York City in 1999—when Rudy Giuliani was mayor and regressive hipster irony (à la VICE Magazine) ruled.”

They first signed to Mr. Lady Records, an independent San Francisco lesbian-feminist record label. The band have released three albums in their 25-year run; self-titled album Le Tigre in 1999, Feminist Sweepstakes in 2000, and This Island in 2004. The band last played at This Aint No Picnic festival last year, after having a 17-year long break from live shows.

Tickets for the shows can be found on the bands offical website here.

UK tour dates:

03/06/2023 – Troxy – London

05/06 – Albert Hall – Manchester

06/06 – Barrowland Ballroom – Glasgow

The announcement is accompanied with the release of the first single from the album “Penge“. You can listen to the new single below, which lead singer John Lydon described as “something of a medieval Viking epic.”

The single was released yesterday, on April 11th, before the news of the tour and album was announced. The band posted videos of the band in the studio on Twitter in anticipation of the release, as shown below.

Penge – New PiL single released Tuesday, April 11th. Also look out for a big announcement the same day…

See PiL and John Lydon socials for teasers over the next few days… pic.twitter.com/DMP8cD4vS0

— Public Image Ltd (@pilofficial) April 6, 2023

The big announcement comes after the news that John Lydon‘s wife of forty-four years, Nora Forster, died this week at the age of eighty. She had been diagnosed with Alzheimers in 2018. The band posted the news on Twitter, as seen below, also announcing that the upcoming album would be released in her honour.

Rest in Peace Nora Forster 1/2 It is with a heavy heart that we share the sad news that Nora Forster – John Lydon’s wife of nearly 5 decades – has passed away. Nora had been living with Alzheimer’s for several years. In which time John had become her full time carer. pic.twitter.com/mEabNLmrHy — Public Image Ltd (@pilofficial) April 6, 2023

They also announced below their plans to continue with the release and tour, despite the awful news.

PiL have decided to continue plans to announce their 11th studio album End of World, following the sad passing of John’s wife Nora Forster. End of World will be released on 11th August followed by a 38-date UK & European Tour.

See https://t.co/LWN0WufLlG website for full info pic.twitter.com/tKvhiQ3prX

— Public Image Ltd (@pilofficial) April 11, 2023

The final song on the album “Hawaii“, was released earlier this year, in honour of John’s wife. It is described on the band’s official website as “the most personal piece of songwriting and accompanying artwork that John Lydon has ever shared. The song is a love letter to John’s late wife Nora.”

The statement continued, calling it “A pensive, personal yet universal love song that has resonated with many since its release in January, the song sees John reflecting on their lifetime well spent and in particular one of their happiest moments together in Hawaii. John said, “Nora loved the album, she wouldn’t have wanted us to postpone it or change any of our plans.” Previously he has said of Hawaii, “It is dedicated to everyone going through tough times on the journey of life, with the person they care for the most.”

The offical tracklist for the album End Of World is as follows:

1. “Penge”
2. “End Of The World”
3. “Car Chase”
4. “Being Stupid Again”
5. “Walls”
6. “Pretty Awful”
7. “Strange”
8. “Down On The Clown”
9. “Dirty Murky Delight”
10. “The Do That”
11. “L.F.C.F”
12. “North West Passage”
13. “Hawaii”

The band, also known as PiL, was formed by singer John Lydon, formerly of the Sex Pistols, in 1978. He formed the band with guitarist Keith Levene, bassist Jah Wobble, and drummer Jim Walker, but has remained the only constant member since. The band’s music is of the post-punk genre, but has a distinct experimental sound often associated with John Lydon’s style of singing.

The band released their debut album First Issue in 1978, the first of 11 albums. There was a seventeen year hiatus between 1992 and 2009, before Lydon brought the band back together for two new albums and a world tour. In 2018, PiL celebrated their 40th anniversary with the release of a box set of career highlights, a documentary, which were both called The Public Image Is Rotten’, and a 32-date UK/Europe/Japan tour.

John Lydon, Lu Edmonds, Scott Firth and Bruce Smith continue as the official line up of PiL.

You can pre order the album here, due to be released on the 11th of August.

Stream the new single here:

Tickets for the tour can be purchased here from the 14th April at 10am. Presale starts on the 12th. The tour begins in Swansea, in September, and all 15 UK dates are listed below:

11/09/2023 – Patti Pavilion – Swansea
12/09 – Dreamland – Margate
13/09 – Engine Shed – Lincoln
15/09 – King George’s Hall – Blackburn
16/09 – Tivoli – Buckley
18/09 – Fire Station – Sunderland
19/09 – Beach Ballroom – Aberdeen
21/09 – O2 Academy – Edinburgh
22/09 – O2 Ritz – Manchester
23/09 – Picture Dome – Holmfirth
25/09 – HMV Empire – Coventry
26/09 – Chalk – Brighton
28/09 – O2 Academy – Bristol
29/09 – Foundry – Torquay
30/09 – O2 Forum Kentish Town – London

The UK dates, which start after the European tour, begin with a massive show at The O2 in London, which will be the bands only show in England. The band’s announcement stated that it “will be their first show in the capital since a sold out performance in 2021 which was live streamed across the world.”

Speaking about their other UK dates, they also said “2023 will see the band hit 3Arena on October 1st for the first time. Speaking of firsts, the band return to Glasgow for the first time in 8 years for a performance at OVO Hydro on October 5th.”

New Order announced the set of shows on Instagram, as seen below, also confirming support from special guests Confidence Man, an Australian indie electro pop band. Confidence Man released their second album last year, Tilt, which NME called “over-the-top pop of the highest order” and gave it a gleaming four star review. It reached number 7 in the Offical UK charts. The band are playing on the New Order tour after their own set of UK dates starting in May.

In other news, the band have had a busy year. They were announced as headliners of the Primavera Sound festival in Madrid and Barcelona, and garnered attention after backing the #LetTheMusicMove campaign. This was after the US Department of Homeland Security announced they would raise touring visa fees by 250 percent for foreign acts, greatly impacting how and even if smaller bands can tour the US. They were one of over 200 artists that came together for the touring campaign. See below:

The band formed in Manchester in 1980, after the disbandment of Joy Division following the death of lead singer Ian Curtis. The remaining members, Bernard Summer, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris, formed New Order. They brought in keyboardist Gillan Gilbert the following year to complete the line up. In 2023, New Order and Joy Division were jointly nominated to be accepted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Their hit song, “Blue Monday“, came out forty years ago in March- a milestone the band celebrated by releasing limited edition merchandise. It became the best-selling independent 12″ single of all time in the UK, despite not being on any album. The song was rereleased in 2008, on the collector’s edition of their second album Power, Corruption & Lies. They posted on Instagram to unveil the collection. See below:

Tickets for all dates go on sale April 14th, at 9.30am. They are available via Ticketmaster here.

Here are the UK tour dates:

29/09/2023 – The O2 – London

05/10 – OVO Hydro – Glasgow

07/10 – First Direct Arena – Leeds