LEFTFIELD add new Belfast date to fast-selling UK tour

Leftfield
© Steve Gullick

Electronic & dancefloor pioneers Leftfield have today added a new date to their 2023 May/June tour – This Is What We Tour ‘23 – in support of their acclaimed new album ‘This Is What We Do’ (out now via Virgin Music).

Taking place in May & June 2023, all dates in London, Manchester, Bristol and Glasgow have already sold out. Due to overwhelming demand, the group have just added a date in Belfast, taking place on 16 June 2023.

Leftfield are currently riding high, following the late 2022 release of the group’s phenomenal album, This Is What We Do. The record is a truly vital collection that has earned both critical acclaim and commercial success, as well as the Grian Chatten (Fontaines D.C.) featuring single “Full Way Round” reaching the BBC 6Music A-List.

This Is What We Do is Leftfield’s first album of new music since 2015’s feted Alternative Light Source. The album was crafted by Neil Barnes with long-time studio and mix engineer Adam Wren, and features guest contributions from Fontaines D.C. frontman Grian Chatten, Lemn Sissay and more. The album cover is a shot taken by lauded photographer Steve McCurry, whose work includes the celebrated photograph Afghan Girl. This cover image is a marked departure to previous Leftfield album imagery, chosen to reflect the warmth and positivity of the album and to celebrate the connections that we make with others throughout our lives.

This Is What We Do, is an eclectic long-player that embodies the core optimistic ethos of the iconic dance music act. Exploring themes around love, acceptance, diversity and healing, the album was written before and after two extremely challenging and transformative periods in the life of Barnes. The global pandemic, and his own personal health crisis, both having a direct impact on the creative process, with his own drive to heal childhood trauma as a backdrop. As a result the new LP is a rich, vibrant, positive and potent cocktail of incendiary cuts that epitomise Leftfield’s uncompromising approach to dance music. Tapping into the roots of the culture – subversive, radical, progressive and inclusive – This Is What We Do is a positive and powerful record that addresses personal themes which also reflect our current global experience.

The album is heralded by current single – and BBC 6Music A-list record – “Full Way Round” feat Fontaines D.C.’s Grian Chatten. “Full Way Round” is a thrilling combination of styles: Leftfield’s tough, electro-indebted production is punctuated by Chatten’s iconoclastic vocal delivery, every syllable delivered with purpose and a steely intent. It is a moment of pure revitalisation, recorded in Leftfield’s studio in West London. “Full Way Round” is imbued with a raw sense of power, hewn from moments of pure inspiration.

This Is What We Do provides the perfect channel for Barnes to utilise electronic music to work through a highly challenging period of his life, facing his own trauma, and going through a process of self-examination. The positive energy and dance-inducing music across the LP demonstrates the power of dance music can heal and transform; individually and societally. Honest, forthright, unapologetic and unique in its aesthetic, the new album marks another milestone in Leftfield’s timeline. A continuation of their lineage, which can be traced back to 1989, This Is What We Do is a bold counterpoint to the self-conscious cookie-cutter dance music that dominates the current landscape. Vibrant, full of positivity and alive with sincere emotion, this is electronic music in its purest, most rebellious form…

Listen to ‘This Is What We Do’ – BELOW:

Formed in 1988, Leftfield quickly became one of the most influential and innovative dance music acts of all time. Originally comprised of Neil Barnes and Paul Daley, Leftfield’s legendary live performances paired with seminal albums, 1995s Leftism and 1999s Rhythm & Stealth (both Mercury Music Prize nominees), solidified their position as true pioneers.

The group then went on a hiatus in 2002 before returning in 2010 for live appearances (now led solely by Barnes). 2015’s Alternative Light Source was the first Leftfield album in sixteen years. The record garnered acclaim from The Guardian, The Observer, Uncut, Mojo and more, and featured Jason Williamson (Sleaford Mods) and Tunde Adebimpe (TV on The Radio), amongst others. In 2017 the band reissued their classic album Leftism, remastering the original 11 tracks of the record and releasing 11 remixes. They then embarked on a special sold-out tour in support of the reissue, playing Leftism in its entirety.

The full list of This Is What We Tour ’23 UK live shows is as follows;

Thursday 18 May London Steel Yard SOLD OUT

Friday 19 May Manchester New Century SOLD OUT

Saturday 20 May Manchester New Century SOLD OUT

Thursday 25 May Bristol Marble Factory, Bristol SOLD OUT

Friday 26 May Cardiff Great Hall

Saturday 27 May Bournemouth O2 Academy

Thursday 1 June Glasgow Barrowland SOLD OUT

Friday 2 June Newcastle NX

Saturday 3 June Wolverhampton – The Civic at the Halls

Thursday 8 June Sheffield O2 Academy

Friday 9 June Norwich UEA – The Nick Rayns LCR

Friday 16 June Belfast Mandela Hall ***NEW DATE***

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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