The Darkness have announced their eighth studio album, Dreams on toastdue out March 2025 via Cooking Vinyl. Lead single “The Longest Kiss” is available now.
This three-minute gem is a love letter to 70s pop rock, in the vein of Queen, Electric Light Orchestra and Wings. Frontman Justin Hawkins uses the full spectrum of his voice on this melodic number, which includes prominent piano and elegant guitar riffs.
“Misty Orchards! That’s not my porn name, it’s the kind of landscape I love,” Hawkins said of the song in the album’s press release. “I woke up to such a sight in the charming Scottish Highland village of Nairn on the morning the inspiration for the lyrics to ‘The Longest Kiss’ struck. I was glassy-eyed and locked in an endless embrace with my (middle-aged) partner. It’s strange that I can still sing, but that’s a testament to the resilience of humans, especially lead singers.”
As for the musical accompaniment, Hawkins added: “The music itself is a piano-led composition, the chorus of which my brother and I came up with after he took a long time to empty his bladder during an impressive pub endurance test. 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 ever-brash Hawkins said the band tapped into “the elite songs, the life-changing music of all time” to create Dreams on toastsporting a sleek album sleeve by artist Perry Shall that could have graced a late-'70s Sparks LP.
“Then we brought out a dozen sausages before lunch,” Hawkins continued. “And these sausages we present to you here, bathed in an aromatic aural ragout, served over the charred remains of our envious contemporaries… ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Dreams on toast!”
The Darkness, whose lead track “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” recently shot to No. 1 on the iTunes rock chart thanks to Taylor Swift, will support the release of the new album with a UK tour in March 2025 with Britpop veterans Ash (get tickets here). here) The tour will culminate with a final at the OVO Arena Wembley on March 29 in London.
You can place an order in advance Dreams on toast on vinyl, CD and cassette through the band online storeListen to “The Longest Kiss” and check out the album artwork and UK tour dates below.
Dreams on toast Work of art:
The Darkness 2025 Tour Dates:
03/07 – Ipswich, UK @ Regent's Theatre *
03/08 – Oxford, United Kingdom @ New Theater *
09/03 – Swansea, UK @ Arena *
03/11 – Guildford, UK @ G Live *
03/12 – Hull, United Kingdom @ Connexin Arena *
14/03 – Liverpool, United Kingdom @ Gremio de Estudiantes *
15/03 – Wolverhampton, UK @ Civic Hall *
17/03 – York, UK @ Barbican *
18/03 – Edinburgh, UK @ Usher Hall *
20/03 – Glasgow, UK @ Royal Concert Hall *
21/03 – Newcastle, UK @ O2 City Hall *
22/03 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo *
24/03 – Bristol, UK @ Beacon Theatre *
03/25 – Portsmouth, UK @ Guildhall *
27/03 – Leicester, UK @ De Montford Hall *
28/03 – Cambridge, UK @ Corn Exchange *
29/03 – London, UK @ OVO Arena Wembley *
* = with ash
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