BEN HOWARD Announces Royal Festival Hall Shows & Releases ‘Far Out’ and ‘Follies’

BEN HOWARD Announces Royal Festival Hall Shows & Releases 'Far Out' and 'Follies'
Photo Credit: Roddy Bow

Ben Howard is pleased to announce two shows at London’s Royal Festival Hall for the Autumn. The British musician, who releases his fourth album, Collections From The Whiteout, on 26th March, will return to the live arena in September, his first live shows since four consecutive sold-out nights at Brixton Academy back in January 2019.

The Royal Festival Hall shows, on 18th and 19th September, will go on general sale from Friday 5th March via www.benhowardmusic.co.uk, preceded by a fan access pre-sale from Wednesday 3rd March.

To coincide with its announcement, Ben is sharing two more tracks from Collections From The White Out. Far Out and Follies Fixture are both streaming now, and follow the recent release of Crowhurst’s Meme and returning single, What A Day. Stream the two new songs BELOW:

Ben on 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”

On Follies Fixture, Ben explains: “Follies Fixture is a love song. It deals with an apathetic period of my life searching for routine in Paris.”

Collections From The Whiteout heralds the first time Ben has opened the door to collaboration, snaring The National’s Aaron Dessner on production, and a team of players from the likes of Big Thief, This Is The Kit, and drummer/producer Yussef Dayes. Strings were orchestrated by Bon Iver/Laura Marling collaborator Rob Moose.

Collections From The Whiteout has an immediately breezier tone than Ben’s last record, whilst losing none of the experimental tendencies that made Noonday Dream so compelling.

The subject matter, previously shrouded in obfuscation, takes a scrapbook approach to Ben’s lyricism. Mostly based on snippets of radio news or headline scrolling, he’s let his imagination take those snapshots to wild and remote places, creating stories within stories. Characters are formed, histories are inferred. It’s beautifully random, and makes for an engrossing whole.

Tickets for the Royal Festival Hall shows will also allow fans to purchase the album on pre-order. For further details, please visit www.benhowardmusic.co.uk

Xsnoize Author
Mark Millar is the founder of XS Noize and looks after the daily running of the website as well as hosting interviews for the weekly XS Noize Podcast. Mark's favourite album is Achtung Baby by U2.

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