Are you ready for another The Darkness album? Their eighth studio album, “Dreams On Toast”, arrives in March 2025! LFG! The lead single, “The Longest Kiss”, is being shipped to radio today.
Singer Justin Hawkins says, “You know that thing when God’s breath tickles your soul and tells you to create? Yeah, makes me giggle too. But you can’t resist. God might not be the power she once was, but say what you like about her, she knows damn well that what the world needs now, is rock sweet rock. And who are we, mere mortals of extraordinary ability, to argue with the divine?
“So we knuckled down and thought really hard about the best of the best, the elite songs, the life-changing music of the ages. Then we popped out a dozen bangers before lunch. And these bangers we present to you here, wallowing in an aromatic aural ragu, served atop the charred remains of our envious contemporaries… ladies and gentlemen, I give you ‘Dreams On Toast’!”
Hawkins talks about the lead single, ‘The Longest Kiss’, “Misty Orchards! That’s not my porn name, that’s the kind of scenery that I love. I awakened to such a vista in the delightful Scottish highland town of Nairn on the morning that inspiration for ‘The Longest Kiss’ lyric struck. I was bleary eyed and locked in an unending embrace with my (mid)life partner. Weird that I can still sing, but that’s a testament to the resilience of humans, especially lead singers. The music itself is a piano-led composition, the chorus of which my brother and I came up with after he’d taken a long time to empty his bladder during some impressive pub endurance. The verses were transposed from a song I’ve been working on for decades as part of a musical about the collapse of the Lowestoft fishing industry, called ‘The Collapse Of The Lowestoft Fishing Industry’. The musical isn’t finished yet. But ‘The Longest Kiss’ is. The results are astounding. We’re all very proud of this. Please, to enjoy!”
Meanwhile, the band is touring in March ’25 – their largest headline tour of the U.K. in years. 17 shows, with support from Ash.
Lead singer of Ash, Tim Wheeler, says, “In 2004 we toured the U.K.’s arenas with The Darkness as ‘Permission To Land’ catapulted them into the big league. Next March, 21 years later, we will reunite to tear across Britain before an epic crescendo at Wembley Arena. We believe in a thing called rock!”
March 2025 U.K. headline tour dates (tickets on sale Fri, Sept 27):
March 07 – Ipswich, Regent’s Theatre
March 08 – Oxford, New Theatre
March 09 – Swansea, Arena
March 11 – Guildford, G Live
March 12 – Hull, Connexin Arena
March 14 – Liverpool, Guild Of Students
March 15 – Wolverhampton, Civic Hall
March 17 – York, Barbican
March 18 – Edinburgh, Usher Hall
March 20 – Glasgow, Royal Concert Hall
March 21 – Newcastle, O2 City Hall
March 22 – Manchester, O2 Apollo
March 24 – Bristol, Beacon Theatre
March 25 – Portsmouth, Guildhall
March 27 – Leicester, De Montford Hall
March 28 – Cambridge, Corn Exchange
March 29 – London, OVO Arena Wembley
20 years on and The Darkness continue to build their fanbase. Heck, even Taylor Swift loves ’em – singing along to “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” at the U.S. Open. Viral baby. Viral.
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