Lead single ‘The Hudson’, premiered back in August, which introduced the sound and lyrical themes. Inspired by her parent’s stories of their time in New York in the ’70s, the single is reminiscent of Macdonald’s debut single ‘Mr Rock & Roll’, released in 2007. This was followed by folk-ballad ‘Crazy Shade of Blue’ in September.

According to a press release, ‘The Human Demands’ “rediscovers, from a grown-up perspective, that magic youthful moment of excitement and discovery we can all relate to.” The singer herself said that the themes include getting older, depression, and life’s “many ups and downs,” but it always comes back to the idea of togetherness and love. She explained, “It’s OK to feel a bit crap, and it’s OK to talk about it as well.”

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‘The Human Demands’ is out!  I’m so pleased to finally share it with you all. It’s been a very difficult year for all of us, we’re not all in the same boat but we’re facing the same storm. This is an album about life and its many ups and downs. It’s not always straight forward and everyone is facing their own battles. I hope this album can be a comfort in these turbulent times. I am extremely proud of it. It feels like a special record coming out at an important time. Thank you so much for all your support over the past 15 years. I wouldn’t be anything without you. X #thehumandemands

A post shared by (@amy__macdonald) on Oct 30, 2020 at 2:03am PDT

This Sunday, Macdonald will hold an online album release party via live-stream this Sunday, 1st November, at 7pm GMT. Dubbed ‘An Evening With Amy Macdonald’, the event will be ticketed and priced at £15 per person, with all profits going to the #WeMakeEvents campaign. Set up during lock-down to support the live events sector and show that it needs urgent government support, #WeMakeEvents are raising money to help those in need.

The singer will also be going on a UK and European tour in 2021 once it is safe to do so; tickets are on sale now and include dates in Germany, London and Glasgow. Find more information on her website.

Check out the full track-list for the album below.

1. ‘Fire’
2. ‘Statues’
3. ‘Crazy Shade Of Blue’
4. ‘The Hudson’
5. ‘The Human Demands’
6. ‘We Could Be So Much More’
7. ‘Young Fire, Old Flame’
8. ‘Bridges’
9. ‘Strong Again’
10. ‘Something In Nothing’

(Deluxe Only)
11. ‘Bridges’ (Acoustic)
12. ‘The Hudson’ (Acoustic)
13. ‘Fire’ (Acoustic)
14. ‘Statues’ (Acoustic)
15. ‘We Could Be So Much More’ (Acoustic)
16. ‘The Human Demands’ (Acoustic)

Pre-sales will open at 9am BST (10am CEST) on Wednesday 9th September, and general sale tickets will go on sale at the same time on Friday 11th September. Macdonald exclaimed in her post that she’s “very excited to announce that (she) will be heading back out on the road, playing actual live concerts across the UK and Europe in 2021!!”  The artist has been hinting at this for a while, with some cryptic social media posts over the past few weeks.

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LIVE NEWS! Very excited to announce that I will be heading back out on the road, playing actual live concerts across the UK and Europe in 2021!! In the UK there will be shows at London’s @Ro@roundhouseldn on May 6th and Glasgow’s @trnsmtfest on July 11th. And I will be performing my biggest shows in Germany since 2010, as well as concerts in Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg.  UK Fans – Pre-order my new album The Human Demands from my official store to access an exclusive pre-sale for the London Roundhouse date  EU Fans – Sign up to my mailing list to access the pre-sale for all European tour dates! Link to do both are in my bio. I really can’t wait to see you all again, gonna be so excited that you might even catch me crowd surfing!

A post shared by (@amy__macdonald) on Sep 7, 2020 at 2:03am PDT

This tour will include some of the biggest dates of the singer’s career, at The Roundhouse in London and five shows around Germany, including Barclaycard Arena. It will finish at TRNSMT Festival in Glasgow, where she will perform on the main stage, headlined by Lewis Capaldi.

The new album, ‘The Human Demands’, will be released on 30th October 2020 via Infectious Music who Macdonald recently signed with, making this her first full-length album with a new label, but fifth in her career. According to a press release, the album “rediscovers, from a grown-up perspective, that magic youthful moment of excitement and discovery we can all relate to,” continuing, “Its themes include getting older, dealing with depression, and falling in love with someone you want to spend the rest of your life with.”

Some of these themes can be seen in lead single ‘The Hudson’ which was shared for the first time just a couple of weeks ago on 27th August. With lyrical comparisons such as “I seen the girls in their high heeled shoes/Looking for love, they’ve got nothing to lose” and “What happened to the confidence?/I’m older now,” the song explores the self-confidence many have when they’re young, which can get lost over the years.

Check out the full tour dates below.

22/04/2021 – AB – Brussels, Belgium
23/04 – Samsung Hall – Zurich, Switzerland
26/04 – Jahrhunderthalle – Frankfurt, Germany
27/04 – Rockhal – Luxembourg
29/04 – Zenith – Munich, Germany
30/04 – Max-Schmeling-Halle – Berlin, Germany
02/05 – König Pilsener ARENA – Oberhausen, Germany
03/05 – 013 – Tilburg, The Netherlands
04/05 – Barclaycard Arena – Hamburg, Germany
06/05 – Roundhouse – London, UK
11/07 – TRSNMT Festival – Glasgow, UK