Ben Howard announces two London shows in September

Ben Howard has announced details of two new London shows, set for later this year.

The singer’s forthcoming new album ‘Collections From The Whiteout’ is due out on March 26 via Island.

Following the album’s release, Howard will play two gigs at London’s Royal Festival Hall on September 18 and 19.

General sale tickets will be available from his website from next Friday (March 5), with a fan pre-sale two days earlier.

After sharing the LP’s first single ‘What A Day’ last month and recent single ‘Crowhurst’s Meme’, Howard also shared two new songs – ‘Far Out’ and ‘Follies Fixture’ – today (February 26).

Howard said of ‘Far Out’: “The song is essentially a critique of how easily people are drawn to violence and animosity without reason, just to pass the time. And ultimately how there is perhaps a simpler, more fulfilling path.

“I wanted it to have a very British rhyming slang feel and a Roald Dahl sense of macabre
humour. I fear my tinkering with it has made it a little more plain and serious.”

Listen to the new tracks below.

The return of live music in 2021 following the coronavirus crisis took an extra step this week, as the government outlined plans for England to gradually exit lockdown by the end of June.

Since the announcement, a number of festivals including Reading & Leeds, Green Man and 2000 Trees have all revealed that they now hope to go ahead as usual in 2021, with Reading & Leeds selling out of tickets just two days after the announcement.

Festival Republic boss Melvin Benn, who runs R&L, Wireless and Latitude, has cited the UK’s successful vaccination programme as the key to unlocking large-scale music events this summer.

Sacha Lord, co-founder of Manchester’s Parklife, told NME this week that he’s “confident” about the Manchester festival’s return in September, hailing the NHS’ “phenomenal” vaccine rollout. “For once, we can say that we have got something that’s world-beating,” he said.