The band will begin their outdoor odyssey at Westonbrit Aboretum on the 15^th of June and end the run in Cannock Chase Forest in Staffordshire on the 7^th July. Interestingly, although the band have dates booked in for the Saturday and Sunday of Glastonbury (24^th and 25^th), they’ve left Friday 23^rd tantalisingly free leading to speculation that they might actually be playing eight outdoor sets, including a stop in a certain field in Somerset.

The poster for the Tour also teases ‘guests’ to appear alongside the Mancunian indie merchants but there are no details as to who might be joining them in the woods yet. This announcement comes on top of an already extensive UK touring schedule for the band in March and April. The Tour will support their seventh album, ‘Little Fictions’ which is due to be released on the 3^rd February. The band have already shared a number of tracks from the album, the latest of which was ‘It’s All Disco.’ Garvey recently spoke about his inspiration for the song, revealing, ‘I remember this phrase from Black Francis from the Pixies. I interviewed him for a radio show 10 years ago in Lynchburg Tennessee. I was talking to him about between him being Black Francis and Frank Black and all these different incarnations. I said ‘with all these different styles of music, where are you going next?’ He said something along the lines of ‘you have punk rock, you have rock, you have blues, you have soul, it’s all disco. And I just love that attitude, from one of the most influential people – particularly to me. For him to have this attitude of ‘put everything into it, invest everything into it, but remember it’s not everything. I think that’s a really good way to do it. He’s not having any money but he gave us a really good chorus there.’ You can listen to that ‘really good chorus’ below:

If you like what you hear, then the band’s full tour schedule is below, including their ‘Forest Live’ dates and their previously scheduled February/March Tour. Tickets for the latter Tour are already available, while tickets for the woods will be on presale from Thursday morning (19^th January) at 9am and on general sale from the same time on Friday (20^th).

26/2 – Olympia Theatre – Dublin
27/2 – Olympia Theatre – Dublin
1/3 – O2 Academy – Birmingham
2/3 – O2 Academy – Birmingham
4/3 – Eventim Apollo – London
5/3 – Eventim Apollo – London
6/3 – Eventim Apollo – London
8/3 – BIC – Bournemouth
9/3 – Pavilions – Plymouth
10/3 – Newport Centre – Newport
12/3 – Usher Hall – Edinburgh
13/3 – Usher Hall – Edinburgh
14/3 – Spa – Bridlington
15/3 – Dome – Doncaster
16/3 – De Montfort Hall – Leicester
18/3 – O2 Apollo – Manchester
19/3 – O2 Apollo – Manchester
20/3 – O2 Apollo – Manchester

15/6 – Westonbirt Arboretum – Nr Tetbury, Glos
17/6 – Bedgebury Pinetum – Nr Tunbridge Wells, Kent
24/6 – Dalby Forest – Nr Pickering, North Yorks
25/6 – Sherwood Forest – Nr Mansfield, Notts
29/6 – Thetford Forest – Nr Brandon, Suffolk
30/6 – Delamere Forest – Delamere, Cheshire
7/7 – Cannock Chase Forest – Nr Rugeley, Staffs