Tour dates, new video, and new album, “Easter Is Cancelled” out October 4 2019

In the Year of Our Lord, 2019, while turmoil and chaos beset the world, a mighty force is about to be unleashed. Prepare for the sonic apocalypse… for Darkness spreads across the land! In their inimitable style, as joyous warriors of The Darkness – frontman Justin Hawkins, guitarist Dan Hawkins, bassist Frankie Poullain and drummer Rufus Taylor – are here to prick the pompous and kick the arses of those who seek to destroy. Our four maestros embark upon their most ambitious quest to date with a musical opus of veritable magnum status soon to be thrust into the ear canals of rock fans around the globe: The band’s new album Easter Is Cancelled will be released on October 4th via Cooking Vinyl. 

Easter Is Cancelled marks The Darkness’ first ever concept album. The ten-track record produced by Dan Hawkins (who also produced the band’s magnificent 2015 release Last Of Our Kind), examines the role of the musician in the barbarous culture of the world today, and their almost divine responsibility to challenge the establishment – something that most rock and roll artists seem to have given up on in favor of easy celebrity – with opener “Rock and Roll Deserves to Die.” And yet at the heart of this tale is love, loss and heartbreak, where redemption is ultimately found in the brotherhood of band friendship and the power of the guitar, as brought full circle in the glorious album closer “We Are The Guitar Men.”

First single “Rock and Roll Deserves to Die” is quite simply the band’s most exciting and diverse song to date and finds The Darkness hailing the death of the old and opening a door into a brave new world never seen from the band before. From the songs chiming, acoustic beginnings, as it explodes into an epic five-minute masterpiece, the track boasts some of Justin Hawkins’ finest lyrics to date alongside monumental riffs, thunderous bass and almighty drums, while also featuring some beautifully delicate touches from the band.

Easter Is Cancelled will be released digitally and in full technicolor physical glory as a standard CD, digipak CD with bonus tracks, gatefold LP, limited edition color vinyl gatefold LP and cassette. The album is available to pre-order now from the band’s official store including special signed copies, deluxe edition and exclusive album bundle offers.

The Darkness will be spreading their Easter Is Cancelled message across the land with a full North American tour kicking off in Spring 2020 that will quite literally resurrect the souls of all who attend (details to be announced). The band is set to play UK and European headline dates this winter and open for Ed Sheeran in September. 

Justin Hawkins shares thoughts on the album: “At the end of days, humankind must consider the essential truths of existence. The Darkness, your vanguard in life’s journey, have stared into the abyss. The observations we bring from the edge are set out in a new record album, titled Easter is Cancelled. This far-reaching communiqué examines man’s brutality to man, the dichotomies that we live within and the alternate realities that exist alongside our blinkered comprehension of the Universe. The song cycle defines human existence through a parable – the slow lingering death and eventual glorious re-birth of rock and roll. In the search for perfect sonic equivalents of core truths, every musical instrument of the world has been explored and exploited to its fullest extent. Endless days in studios, museums, spiritual retreats and places of learning turned into endless months, as deeper and deeper layers of truth were uncovered, translated and set for eternity in sound. The result is a literally Biblical record, and those who have said that rock and roll is the Devil’s music should listen and understand that it is, in truth, the voice of God. This is the grandest statement any band has ever made, and the endeavour has taken its toll. In achieving such a mighty goal, a line is drawn and this will be the last traditional music album from The Darkness – having confronted the eternal and ultimate, we must now move on to higher art forms. The future is an open door. Who’s in here?”

EASTER IS CANCELLED Track Listing

01. Rock and Roll Deserves to Die
02. How Can I Lose Your Love
03. Live ’til I Die
04. Heart Explodes
05. Deck Chair
06. Easter Is Cancelled
07. Heavy Metal Lover
08. In Another Life
09. Choke On It
10. We Are the Guitar Men

TOUR DATES

Aug 16 Roundhay Park, Leeds UK
Aug 17 Roundhay Park, Leeds UK
Aug 23 Chantry Park, Suffolk Hill UK
Aug 24 Chantry Park, Suffolk Hill UK
Aug 25 Chantry Park, Ipswich UK
Aug 26 Chantry Park, Ipswich UK
Sep 14 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London UK
Nov 25 Cyprus Avenue, Cork Ireland
Nov 26 Limelight, Belfast UK
Nov 27 The Academy, Dublin Ireland
Nov 29 Rock City, Nottingham UK
Dec 01 Academy, Birmingham UK
Dec 02 Academy, Leicester UK
Dec 03 Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-sea UK
Dec 05 The Nick Rayns, Norwich UK
Dec 06 Cambridge Corn Exchange, Cambridge UK
Dec 07 Bath Pavilion, Bath UK
Dec 09 Portsmouth Pyramids Centre, Portsmouth UK
Dec 10 Brighton Dome, Brighton UK
Dec 11 Watford Colosseum, Watford UK
Dec 13 Manchester Academy, Manchester UK
Dec 14 Academy Newcastle, Newcastle Upon Tyne UK
Dec 15 Academy, Glasgow UK
Dec 17 York Barbican, York UK
Dec 18 Academy, Liverpool UK
Dec 20 The Roundhouse, London UK
Jan 25 La Laiterie, Strasburg France
Jan 26 La Cigale, Paris France
Jan 27 Le Krakatoa, Merignac France
Jan 30 Sala Riviera, Madrid Spain