Regarding his own newfound seriousness, McKenzie had this to say, “Post-Conchords, I’d been working on songs for the Muppets films, and during a session I had the thought that it would be fun someday to work on some songs that weren’t for someone else, that doesn’t have to tell a story or be funny or continue the narrative plot, checking all the boxes for the character in the movie,” the statement continues, “I thought it’d be fun to do a record like that, something different.”

Making comedy music is an art that not everyone has the ability to pull off. Obviously, comedy (along with every other art form) is subjective, so what I think about Tim Minchin or Bo Burnham might be very different to you, but if you compare the number of successful musicians to the amount of actually funny ones… the trend is clear. It’s pretty much common knowledge at this point that if you say anything even reasonably funny onstage and your audience will let you take it, the easiest comedy show in the world. Now we get the opportunity to see whether or not these skills are easily transferred in the other direction, can you just stop being funny? To what extent will it affect your songwriting? You can pre-order the album here to find out soon.

The announcement of new material also comes with a pretty substantial world tour, beginning in New Zealand this September, the tour will quickly find itself in the UK. 10 dates from September 22^nd – October 9^th, you can look into full ticket information here. The tour will then take to the states for another month before concluding in Atlanta on November 20^th. I imagine most of the immediate response will come from Flight of the Conchords fans, so might we find ourselves a few sneaky covers thrown into the mix? A quick jazzy rendition of ‘A Kiss Is Not A Contract’ could slot into the vibe perfectly. Tickets go on sale next Tuesday (May 17^th).

See below the full UK tour dates:

22/9/22 – Birmingham – Town Hall
23/9 – Leeds – O2 Academy
26/9 – London – Eventim Apollo
29/9 – Nottingham – Royal Concert Hall
01/10 – Portsmouth – Guildhall
03/10 – Cardiff – St. David’s Hall
04/10 – Edinburgh – Academy
05/10 – Newcastle upon Tyne – O2 City Hall Newcastle
07/10 – Manchester – O2 Apollo
09/10 – Dublin – The National Stadium

The pair had been gearing up for a stint of UK dates later this week, but due to McKenzie breaking two bones in his hand, he will be unable to perform for several weeks.

Taking to the group’s official Instagram to explain the situation, McKenzie wrote: “Unfortunately I’ve broken two bones in my hand today in a very rock ‘n’ roll injury – falling down some stairs. The doctors have informed me that I won’t be able to perform for several weeks. I’m sorry not to be able to do these upcoming shows but I’m looking forward to coming back and finishing the tour when I have two fully functioning hands. -Bret McKenzie”

Unfortunately I’ve broken two bones in my hand today in a very rock ‘n’ roll injury – falling down some stairs. The doctors have informed me that I won’t be able to perform for several weeks. I’m sorry not to be able to do these upcoming shows but I’m looking forward to coming back and finishing the tour when I have two fully functioning hands. -Bret McKenzie Full Info: http://smarturl.it/fotcpostpone

A post shared by Flight Of The Conchords (@flightoftheconchords) on Mar 18, 2018 at 6:01am PDT

Anticipation had been very high for this Conchords tour, having been announced in October 2017, and would’ve marked the duos first return to British shores since 2010. A statement on Flight of the Conchords’ official website also reads: “Bret and Jemaine are extremely sorry and deeply saddened that they cannot perform for their U.K. fans, who have waited so patiently.

“Tickets holders will be contacted about the rescheduling of dates. More information to follow.”

You can see the full list of affected dates below.

20/03/2018- Eventim Apollo- London

22/03- Genting Arena- Birmingham

23/03- Manchester Arena- Manchester

25/03- 3 Arena- Dublin

26/03- SSE hydro- Glasgow

27/03- First Direct Arena- Leeds

29/03- O2 Arena- London

30/03- O2 Arena- London

01/04- Echo Arena- Liverpool

02/04- 3 Arena- Dublin

03/03- O2 Arena- London

The geniuses behind the double act are New Zealand born Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie. The Grammy-award winning boys were noticed by heavily popular American TV channel HBO in 2005 after seeing them perform at the Aspen Comedy Festival, in Colorado, USA as well as hearing their six part comedy series for BBC Radio 2.

HBO offered them the opportunity to film a half hour performance for a stand-up comedy show called One Night Stand, which only lead to bigger and better things for them, getting to star in their own HBO show, which lasted two seasons and the sitcom was a hit.

But this wasn’t the only thing they were up to over the four years of taking TV by storm. They released an EP named The Distant Future which went onto win a Grammy for ‘Best Comedy Album’ in 2008, and then a full length album The Flight of the Conchords in 2008. Following this they got to tour North America, and then go onto release a second album I Told You I Was Freaky in 2009. Both Clement and Mckenzie have also expressed their acting and voice over skills appearing in countless films and productions, and winning a couple of awards to go with it. All of this together, rocketed the duo to international fame and success.

It was even said that earlier this year, Clement and Mckenzie could potentially be appearing on the big screen after discussions of a possible film. They told Press Association “The ideas we have are quite different to the TV show. It’s still music, still a couple of idiots and another idiot and some music.”

It’s been announced that both Jermaine and Bret will make their come-back in both arenas and theatres on the tour, and can be seen in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Dublin, Glasgow, Leeds, and Liverpool.

Here is the tour dates you need to know, including two nights at London’s Eventim Apollo:

Mon 19 March – Eventim Apollo, London

Tue 20 March – Eventim Apollo, London

Thu 22 March – Genting Arena, Birmingham

Fri 23 March – Manchester Arena

Mon 26 March – SSE Hydro, Glasgow

Tue 27 March – First Direct Arena, Leeds

Thu 29 March – O2 Arena, London

Sun 1 April – Echo Arena, Liverpool

Tickets will go on sale, Friday 27th October at 10am here.