In an interview with NME, frontman Guy Garvey said about the new album, “it’s in very sharp contrast to the last record. The last one was made in lockdown and was very gentle, wistful and based on life, childhood, memories and fatherhood – all these very wholesome things. With the bruising that the pandemic had given everyone, it felt the right time to do a record like that….That’s a beautiful, gentle record, whereas this is groove-based. It tackles some pretty full-on subjects, and it’s loads of fun as well.”

Garvey divulged that the new studio effort by the band tackles some weighty topics that he feels the time is just right for. He added, “It deals with some pretty inky stuff. There are a couple of wholesome tunes on there, but by and large there’s everything from a maniacal rant from the point of view of a frontman who’s lost his mind, to really awful portraits of toxic relationships failing – all set to a very thick, guitar, drum and groove-based thing. It doesn’t sound like anything that we’ve done before. There’s everything from Stiff Records and what Elvis Costello was doing in his early years, right through to Afrika Bambaataa. We’re wearing our influences a bit more proudly.”

Formed in 1997 in the Greater Manchester area, Elbow came into considerable success after the release of their fourth album, The Seldom Seen Kid-scoring the band their first Mercury Music Prize and Brit Award for Best British Group. From there, Elbow continued to release new material at a steady rate, even having one of their songs (“Mirrorball”) covered by none other than Peter Gabriel.

For their upcoming tour, Garvey has revealed that the band fully intend to provide a career-spanning setlist, saying, “the first time we played arenas, we didn’t have enough big numbers to do an arena set….we had a B-stage, a walkway, all this stuff – but now we’ve got more than enough massive songs. I think it’s going to be loads of fun.”

Tickets for the arena tour can be purchased here, ahead of the general sale on 27 October.

Elbow UK Tour:

07/05/2024 – Brighton Centre – Brighton
09/05 – O2 Arena – London
10/05 – Resorts World Arena – Birmingham
11/05 – OVO Hydro – Glasgow
12/05 – First Direct Arena – Leeds
14/05 – Co-op Live – Manchester
15/05 – Motorpoint Arena – Nottingham