“We’re gutted we’ve had to reschedule again, although the new shows and upgrades are going to make this even more special!” The band broke the sad news on their social media, which can be seen below.

ดูโพสต์นี้บน Instagram

Hi everyone,  UK TOUR UPDATE! Due to the nature of the current COVID-19 pandemic, we have been forced to reschedule our tour dates to April 2021. However, original tickets remain valid and we’re also so excited to announce some new dates in Birmingham, Oxford and Glasgow along with venue upgrades in London, Manchester, Newcastle and Leeds! We’re gutted we’ve had to reschedule again, although the new shows and upgrades are going to make this even more special! Pre-sale tickets for the new and upgraded shows will be available from 9am BST on Wednesday 22nd July. To gain access, sign up at the link in our bio. Tickets go on-sale 9am BST on Friday 24th July

โพสต์ที่แชร์โดย The Academic (@theacademic) เมื่อ ก.ค. 20, 2020 เวลา 9:00am PDT

Regardless of the unfortunate event, the Irish indie group just dropped a new body of work, ‘Acting My Age‘. The six-track EP is a follow up to their 2018’s breakout debut LP ‘Tales from the Backseat‘. The title track is the latest cut to showcase the four-piece’s artistic growth as one of the Irish acts to keep an eye on.

The track is about “being young and growing up, but perhaps more about the growing up side of things,” lead vocal Craig Fitzgerald told Dork. “It’s basically all about accepting that anybody can make a mistake, but it doesn’t make you a bad person. Accept the mistake for what it is.”

Our new EP #ActingMyAge is out everywhere now! We had so much fun making this, we’re so proud to finally bring it to you all. Share it with your friends, play it loud. Listen here: https://t.co/R0VD55Cb01

Love,

Craig, Matt, Stephen, Dean. pic.twitter.com/DreQPs6UDJ

— The Academic (@TheAcademic) July 9, 2020

The ‘Acting My Age‘ EP is out now. The “Bite My Tongue” group will come back on the road again next year, starting from April 2021, with the biggest UK tour to date. Already revealed were the rescheduled dates, while some were also upgraded to bigger venues. Check it out below, and visit their official site for ticket purchase.

New dates for the UK Tour 2021
10/04/2021 — Millennium Forum — Derry
13/04 — O2 Academy 2 — Oxford
14/04 — 14 Clwb Ifor Bach — Cardiff *sold out*
16/04 — O2 Institute 2 — Birmingham *new date*
17/04 — Stylus — Leeds *venue upgrade*
18/04 — Rescue Rooms — Nottingham
20/04 — Arts Club — Liverpool
22/04 — O2 Forum Kentish Town — London *venue upgrade*
24/04 — Riverside — Newcastle *venue upgrade*
25/04 — The Caves — Edinburgh *sold out*
27/04 — The Tunnels — Aberdeen
28/04 — SWG3 TV Studio — Glasgow *new date*
29/04 — O2 Ritz — Manchester *venue upgrade*

The concert is to support the live music initiatives Minding Creative Minds and the Association of Irish Stage Technicians Hardship Fund as the Irish music industry continues to face an uncertain future during this pandemic.

View this post on Instagram

Catch ‘Songs from An Empty Room’ on RTÉ 2fm, @rte2 and @rteplayer from 8.30pm on Saturday, July 25th Hosted by our very own @eoghanmcdermott and @jennygreene, watch some of Ireland’s best bands perform from live music venues across the country #WeAreTheSupportAct #SupportingArtistsSupportingUs

A post shared by RTÉ 2FM (@rte2fm) on Jul 14, 2020 at 1:00am PDT

The event is being produced by RTÉ and EPIC (The Event Production Industry Covid-19 Working Group) and hosted by radio stars Eoghan McDermott and Jenny Grenne. In an Instagram post, Eoghan McDermott spoke about the purpose of the event saying;  “Music From An Empty room celebrates and supports the people behind the scenes of the music that improves all of our lives. Like so many people and maybe more than many of us, their industry has been absolutely battered, which means their ability to make a living is majorly hindered.

“Every special moment of magic from a live gig was made possible by this community of sound and light crew, stage crew, front of house staff and all the behind the scenes heroes. This gig sees some of Ireland’s best artists playing for free to raise money for this community.”

Acts include; Aimée, Denise Chaila, Eve Belle, Fia Moon, Gavin James, Jafaris, James Vincent McMorrow, Lisa McHugh, Lyra, Mother DJs, Noel Hogan (The Cranberries) with Danny O’Reilly (The Coronas), Picture This, Sorcha Richardson, Soulé, The Academic, The Blizzards, The Coronas and The Stunning.

View this post on Instagram

Getting ready for my first gig of 2020 it’s called ‘Songs from an Empty Room’ and will be broadcast on @rte2 and @rte2fm next week! I’m extra proud of this one as it’s showcasing the amazing people that work behind the scenes of events in Ireland aaand raising awareness for mental health within the music industry. Finally I’m no longer literally singing to an empty room #SongsFromAnEmptyRoom #WeAreTheSupportAct

A post shared by Fia Moon (@fia_moon) on Jul 14, 2020 at 12:10pm PDT

These acts will be preforming from some of Ireland’s most iconic venues such as; The Olympia Theatre in Dublin, Cyprus Avenue in Cork, Galway’s Roisin Dubh, INEC in Killarney and Dolan’s in Limerick.

Ireland’s €3.5 billion a year live music industry has come to a complete halt during the COVID-19 pandemic, with no clear roadmap of when they can start back up. This has totally left backstage crews with no income. The event will feature footage from behind-the-scenes of the events industry to show how these hard working people, who are often forgotten, have been severely impacted by this pandemic.

Viewers will be able to donate by text and a GoFundMe page during the event, and will be able to purchase branded merchandise. All of these proceeds will go to Minding Creative Minds and the Association of Irish Stage Technicians Hardship Fund.

Viewers in the UK will be able to watch from the RTÉ Player.

It has been about two years now since the four-piece from Ireland last released a full body of music. Their last offering was ‘Tales from the Backseat‘, the band’s debut which entered number one on Ireland’s official chart and was nominated for Ireland’s Choice Music Prize for Album of The Year for 2018.

The LP built such strong hype for the foursome—consisting of Craig Fitzgerald (vocalist and guitarist), Matthew Murtagh (guitarist), Stephen Murtagh (bassist), and Dean Gavin (drummer). “Bear Claws” was the lead single off the record that attracted a wide range of indie enthusiasts, along with other tracks like “Why Can’t Be Friends?“, “Different“, and “I Feel It Too“.

From the success of their debut, the band was embarking on many tours across the sea. In 2018 alone, they were booked to perform in popular UK music festivals such as Sound City, TRNSMT, and Neighbourhood Festival.

After the promotion of ‘Tales from the Backseat‘, the Academic teased the second era by dropping two stand-alone tracks: “SUPERLIKE” and “AFTERTASTE“. Then, the group went quiet for no reason.

Until now, the quartet finally made a proper return to the music scene with a brand new single. Produced by Kaiser Chiefs’ ex-drummer Nick Hodgson, “Anything Could Happen” is a track that exudes such positive and easy-breezy vibes with perfect lyrics about our lockdown time that goes, “How did it end up like this / Another day in the life / Don’t go wasting a wish / There’s no point telling you twice“.

Accompanying the premier by Radio 1’s Annie Mac, the band also unveiled a music video of the song. It features—similar to any other videos released nowadays—lovely home footage of couples who stay together in quarantine and clips of the members playing at their own homes. Check out the video and have a listen to the track below.

This year, the band planned to go on tour again in the UK, but due to the COVID-19 outbreak (obviously) they decided to reschedule all dates which will start in August. There will be 12 shows in total, with all dates showed below. Check out the band’s official site, Gigs and Tours, and Ticketmaster for available tickets.

The 2020 UK Tour Dates
02/08/2020 — Rescue Room — Nottingham
26/09 — Millenium Forum — Derry
30/09 — The Caves — Edinburgh *sold out*
01/10 — The Tunnels — Aberdeen
03/10 — Brudenell Social Club — Leeds *sold out*
05/10 — Think Tank? — Newcastle
06/10 — Arts Club — Liverpool
08/10 — The Sugarmill — Stoke-on-Trent
09/10 — Clwb Ifor Bach — Cardiff *sold out*
10/10 — Gorilla — Manchester *sold out*
12/10 — Electric Ballroom — London
16/10 — Ulster Hall — Belfast