Mystery Jets have announced a new album and a huge tour, as well as unveiling politically-charged new single ‘Screwdriver’.
The new song, which can be heard below, is aimed as a message against the alt-right.
It’s the second taste of new album ‘A Billion Heartbeats’, which will be released on September 27. The LP is followed by a huge tour running throughout November. A full list of dates is below.
Singer Blaine Harrison said of ‘Screwdriver’: “It’s about the mechanics of intolerance. Looking back at times of economic instability, we see how easily deep chasms grow in society and the population seeks change wherever it’s most convincingly promised.”
Harrison added: “Conflict arises as cultures and belief systems crash, unwilling to accept one another’s place in society, because we are fed the rhetoric that our neighbours are those responsible for our problems: then inevitably nationalism once more raises its ugly head above the parapet.
Emphasising the single’s optimistic nature, Harrison said: “Whereas political agendas fuel divisiveness, music unites and reminds us of all that we have in common. The message of ‘Screwdriver’ is not a pessimistic one. Because, perhaps faced with confrontation, we can find understanding and even maybe learn how to listen to and love one another.”
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‘Screwdriver’ follows ‘Hospital Radio’, the band’s tribute to the NHS. Both songs will be on ‘A Billion Heartbeats’, which is produced by the band with Matthew Twaites.
‘A Billion Heartbeats’ will be Mystery Jets’ seventh album, their first since ‘Curve Of The Earth’ in 2016.
Harrison added: “It wasn’t about making pointed opinions. It was about being a mirror for what’s going on, reflecting back the way people are feeling.”
Mystery Jets will tour in November. Dates are:
November 5: Cambridge Junction
November 6: Birmingham Mill
November 7: Norwich Waterfront
November 9: Lincoln 2Q Festival
November 10: Newcastle Riverside
November 11: Edinburgh Caves
November 12: Glasgow Oran Mor
November 14: Manchester Academy 2
November 15: Leeds Wardrobe
November 16: Hull Welly
November 18: Brighton Concorde 2
November 19: Bristol Trinity
November 20: Shepherds Bush O2 Empire