Summer Series sold out headliners Shed Seven announce new album and tour

The Going For Gold and Chasing Rainbows hitmakers will return with their first album in more than six years when they release A Matter of Time on January 12, 2024, via Cooking Vinyl.

PRE-ORDER: A Matter of Time, celebrating the band’s 30th anniversary together next year, is now available to pre-order or pre-save HERE.

BUY TOUR TICKETS: Fans who pre-order A Matter of Time from the band’s official store will receive access to a pre-sale for tickets for the October tour. The pre-sale will open at 9.30am on Wednesday, July 19 and will remain live until any remaining tickets go on general sale at 9.30am on Friday, July 21, via www.gigsandtours.com and www.ticketmaster.co.uk.

A wide range of physical formats are available with exclusives for Amazon, Assai Records, HMV and select indie stories. A special bonus ‘A Matter of Time: Deep Cuts’ CD is only available with bundles purchased from the band’s official store, with options including a signed digipak CD, a signed dolphin coloured vinyl, and a dual pink/green cassette.

Shed Seven will play select gigs this summer including a headline set at Party At The Palace on August 12, but first they will perform a Sounds Of The City 6000-capacity sold out show, with special guests Cast and Skylights, as part of the Summer Series of concerts – full details below – at Millennium Square, Leeds, on Saturday July 15.

It follows last night’s Sounds Of The City set at the outdoor venue from The Smith’s legend Morrissey, who was supported by The Slow Readers Club and The Lottery Winners.

Bastille, with special guests Orla Gartland and Etta Marcus, perform tonight, Thursday, July 13, 6pm – GET TICKETS HERE.

The Wombats, with special guests Circa Waves and The Royston Club, perform tomorrow night, Friday, July 14, 6pm – GET TICKETS HERE.

Shed Seven emerged as one of the big hitters during the heyday of Britpop, their catalogue of classic singles leading to seven Top 20 hits including Going For Gold, Chasing Rainbows, Disco Down and On Standby, as well as four Top 10 albums.

Their popularity has continued since reforming in 2007, with 2017’s Instant Pleasures album debuting at number eight - their highest-charting record in 18 years.

The band’s subsequent sold-out shows have included Leeds First Direct Arena, the O2 Academy Brixton and Manchester’s O2 Victoria Warehouse.

The album is launched alongside today’s release of the new single Kissing California, as well as the confirmation of a headline tour this autumn.For A Matter of Time, Shed Seven’s core members - vocalist Rick Witter, guitarist Paul Banks and bassist Tom Gladwin - reconnected with the classic albums that first inspired them to form a band.

The resulting record sparkles with the liberated exuberance and full-throttle rock ‘n’ roll attitude of a group who are making music for the sheer joy of expressing themselves and performing together.

While the album broadens the Shed Seven sonic palette a touch, it’s full of the towering, arms-in-the-air anthems and yearning melancholia that fans have come to love them for.The trio enlisted a new line-up for the album, calling upon drummer Rob ‘Maxi’ Maxfield (Audioweb) and keyboardist Tim Willis (Ian Brown). The album was produced by the Grammy Award-winning Youth (The Verve, Pink Floyd) at El Mirador Studios in Andalucia, Spain, before being completed by leading mixer Cenzo Townshend (Florence + The Machine, Inhaler).Paul Banks said: “For this album, we took a nostalgic journey back to our roots, immersing ourselves in the records and sounds that ignited our passion for songwriting at the tender age of 12.

"The influences of bands like The Smiths, R.E.M., U2, Simple Minds, The Cure, and Duran Duran permeate every note, making it a heartfelt homage to those cherished times. It embodies the essence of rebirth, empowering individuals to embrace their true selves without inhibition. With utmost conviction, we declare this as the pinnacle of our musical endeavours - the record we've always yearned to create."

Like numerous favourites from the Shed Seven back catalogue, the lead single Kissing California is instantly addictive - this time with chiming guitars, sun-scorched melodies and charismatic vocals all contributing to its life-affirming positivity.Rick Witter added: “Kissing California is Shed Seven's summer anthem. It’s essentially a celebration of being alive, and grabbing the opportunity to paint the town red with someone special and have the best of times. It’s the medicine we all need sometimes.”Elsewhere, A Matter of Time flows from adrenalised punky power-pop right through to epic slow-burners, complete with some special guests: Happy Mondays’ legend Rowetta contributing fervent gospel vocals to In Ecstasy, Laura McClure of Reverend & The Makers on the folky-pop of Tripping With You and Peter Doherty, who duets with Witter on the dramatic closer Throwaways.

TRACKLIST: A MATTER OF TIME

Let’s Go

Kissing California

Talk of the Town

Let’s Go Dancing

In Ecstasy (featuring Rowetta)

Tripping With You (featuring Laura McClure)

Let’s Go (Again)

Real Love

F:K:H

Ring The Changes

Starlings

Throwaways (featuring Peter Doherty)

Tour dates:OCTOBER

19th - Cardiff, The Tramshed

20th - London, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire

21st - Nottingham, Rock City

23rd - Stoke-on-Trent, Victoria Hall

24th - Wolverhampton, Wulfrun Hall

26th - Glasgow, The Barrowland Ballroom

27th - Middlesbrough, Town Hall

28th - Manchester, Albert Hall

LEEDS Millennium Square Summer Series 2023:

Thu 13 Jul, 6pm, Bastille, with special guests Orla Gartland and Etta Marcus

Fri 14 Jul, 6pm, The Wombats, with special guests Circa Waves and The Royston Club

SOLD OUT Sat 15 Jul, 6pm, Shed Seven with special guests Cast and Skylights

Wed 19 Jul, 6pm, Nile Rodgers ft Chic, with special guests, the Go! Team and Nubyian Twists

Fri 21 Jul, 6.30pm, Thank You For The Music - The Ultimate Tribute to ABBA

Sat 22 Jul, 3.30pm, A Beautiful Day Out with Levellers & more, with very special guest Ferocious Dog, Peat & Diesel, The Lovely Eggs and Bar Stool Preachers

Sun 23 Jul, 2.30pm, Leeds Ska & Mod Festival 2023, ft Bad Manners, From The Jam, The Hotknives, Death Of Guitar Pop, The Pioneers and Block 33

Fri 28 Jul, 6.30pm, 80s Classical 2023, With Nik Kershaw, Go West, Nick Heyward, Heaven 17, Carol Decker and the Orchestra of Opera North

Sat 29 Jul, 6.30pm, Club Classical Anthems 2023, With Utah Saints, Janice Robinson, Kelli-Leigh, Karen Harding and the Orchestra of Opera North

Wed 2 Aug, 10.30am, Breeze Presents CFL Live 2023, The biggest children’s festival in Yorkshire in returning to Millennium Square this summer

Thu 3 Aug, 6pm, Gospel Explosion, with The Kingdom Choir and more artists to be announced

Fri 4 Aug, 6.30pm, Brutus Gold's Love Train Open Air Summer Disco Party

Sat 5 Aug, 6pm, The Popworld Festival 2023, featuring Ronan Keating, Claire Richards, B*Witched, DJ Casper and Chesney Hawkes