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

Fans of the band will already have been primed for this news, with the band announcing at the end of September that they would release a follow-up to 2014’s ‘The Take Off And Landing Of Everything’ on the 3^rd February 2017. The band teased that there would be news at the start of this week and true to their word we now have a title, artwork (which you can check out below), and a first single.

elbow's new album 'Little Fictions' will be released 3rd February 2017. pic.twitter.com/9hStDtQ7V8

— elbow (@Elbow) December 5, 2016

The album marks a different phase for the band both musically and in terms of personnel. It will be their first album with only four members, following drummer Richard Jupp’s split from the band earlier this year. Guy Garvey also returns to the band following his solo album, ‘Courting The Squall’ and the accompanying tour which took up his time in 2015. It is therefore appropriate that the sound of the album will be different from the band’s previous output. Speaking to Radio X about the change in personnel and its effect on the album, Garvey said, ‘It took us a long time to get accustomed to it. But then there was also really exciting elements of it. By mid-summer, it was making us quite bold in our decision making.’ He also told DJ Joe Whiley the record is ‘really quite chunky and beat-heavy. There’s a sparseness to the songs which perhaps we’re not known for. The themes are ranging as always, great big themes and concerns for the world at the same time as falling in love, looking forwards and backwards and all of the things.’ According to God Is In The TV, the album will see the band collaborate with The Hale Orchestra, the Halle Ancoats Community Choir, members of London Contemporary Voices and session drummer Alex Reeves.

As for the first single from the album, ‘Magnificent (She Says)’, Mark Potter described, via God Is In The TV, as ‘the song people have been waiting for us to write’, adding that the band decided to ‘let the song go where it needed to, not to back out of the big chorus because that was what it needed.’ There is no official video for the track yet, but you can enjoy the audio for ‘Magnificent (She Says)’ along with the new album artwork below:

The album will be accompanied by a month-long tour of the UK and Ireland that will kick off next February and will take in 11 cities. The full schedule can be found below:

26/2 – Olympia Theatre – Dublin

27/2 – Olympia Theatre – Dublin

1/3 – O2 Academy – Brimingham

2/3 – O2 Academy – Brimingham

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 – Bridlington 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