The Darkness announce new album Dreams On Toast and 2025 UK tour

The Darkness have announced new album ‘Dreams On Toast’ and a UK tour in 2025.

The “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” rockers are set to release their eighth studio album next March, inspired by “life-changing music throughout the ages.”

The band also unveiled the album’s first single, the 1970s-inspired “The Longest Kiss,” which nods to Queen and Sir Paul McCartney.

Frontman Justin Hawkins said: “You know what happens when the breath of God tickles your soul and tells you to create? Yeah, it makes me laugh too. But you can’t resist.”

“God may not be the power she once was, but say what you will about her, she knows full well that what the world needs right now is rock, sweet rock. And who are we, mere mortals with extraordinary abilities, to argue with the divine?

“So we thought hard about the best songs, the elite songs, the life-changing music of all time. Then we came out with a dozen hits before lunch.

“And these bangers we present to you here, bathed in an aromatic stew, served on the charred remains of our envious contemporaries… Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you ‘Dreams On Toast’.”

The 49-year-old added of “The Longest Kiss”: “Misty Orchards! That’s not my porn name, it’s the kind of scenery I love. I woke up to such a view in the charming Scottish Highland town of Nairn the morning the inspiration for the lyrics to “The Longest Kiss” struck me. I was misty-eyed and locked in an endless embrace with my (middle-aged) partner. It’s weird that I can still sing, but it’s a testament to the resilience of humans, especially lead singers.”

“The music itself is a piano composition, the chorus of which my brother and I composed after he took a long time emptying that bladder during an impressive endurance session in a pub.

“The verses were lifted 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 result is amazing. We’re all very proud of it.”

The Darkness will also head out on a UK tour, playing 17 shows across the country in March 2025, culminating in a concert at London’s Wembley Arena.

The Darkness 2025 UK Tour Dates:

MARCH

7 – Ipswich, Regent’s Theater

8 – Oxford, New Theatre

9 – Swansea, Arena

11 – Guildford, G live

12 – Hull, Connexin Arena

14 – Liverpool, Students’ Guild

15 – Wolverhampton, Municipal Hall

17 – York, Barbican

18 – Edinburgh, Usher Hall

20 – Glasgow, Royal Concert Hall

21 – Newcastle, O2 Town Hall

22 – Manchester, O2 Apollo

24 – Bristol, Beacon Theatre

25 – Portsmouth, City Hall

27 – Leicester, De Montford Hall

28 – Cambridge, Corn Exchange

29 – London, OVO Arena Wembley