Snow Patrol Release New Single ‘Don’t Give In’, New Album ‘Wildness’ Due In May
Snow Patrol have premiered ‘Don’t Give In,’ the lead single from Wildness, their first new album in seven years, via BBC Radio 2 on 21 March and have concurrently released the song’s video.
The band conducted an in-studio interview with Jo Whiley, where she gave the song its first radio airplay. Singer Gary Lightbody said of the song: “‘Don’t Give In’ was originally about a friend going through a tough time but the more I wrote into it I realised it was about me and the struggle of making the album – which took 5 years and was not easy – coupled with the struggle with depression I’ve had since I was a kid, so it has become the talisman of the album. The song that became a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
The band will also release a special limited 10” of ‘Don’t Give In’ backed with album track ‘Life On Earth’ for Record Store Day on 21 April.
On 25 May, Snow Patrol return with Wildness which finds the band searching for clarity, connection, and meaning, while staying true to the melodic songwriting prowess that brought them to prominence. Wildness taps into something raw and primitive.
Lead-singer and songwriter Gary Lightbody says of the album: “There are many types of wildness, but I think it can be distilled into two: the wildness of the modern age, all it’s confusion, illogic and alienation and a more ancient wildness. Something primal, alive and beautiful that speaks to our true connectivity, our passion, our love, our communion with nature and each other. This is the kind of wildness the album is centered around. The loss of it. Trying to reconnect with it. To remember it.”
Since their 1998 debut, Songs for Polarbears, Snow Patrol have racked up an impressive number of critical and commercial accolades, including 15 million global album sales, 1+ billion global track streams, five UK Platinum Albums, and are Grammy, BRIT Award and Mercury Music Prize nominated. After their Fallen Empires tour ended in 2012, band members —which also include multi-instrumentalist Johnny McDaid, guitarist Nathan Connolly, bassist Paul Wilson, and drummer Jonny Quinn — decided to take a step back from the band, and focus on their own projects.
Gary Lightbody continued his work with his Tired Pony side project with members of Belle and Sebastian, R.E.M, Reindeer Section and Fresh Young Fellows and moved to Los Angeles to begin writing songs for movies (including ‘This Is How You Walk On’ for 2017’s Gifted), and doing a number of high-profile co-writes with Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Biffy Clyro and One Direction. Taking this extended break from Snow Patrol proved to be a source of inspiration, and writing songs that were not pulled directly from his own psyche helped heal what Lightbody considered to be not so much writer’s block as life block.
It’s in this search for clarity and connection that these songs were written and refined. “I think it’s the first record I’ve ever written that I haven’t just asked a bunch of questions. I actually tried to figure out why I was unhappy, why I feel out of place, why I’m afraid,” says Lightbody. “There’s nothing really to protect myself for– it’s all in the album. I want to remember.” This impulse was partially inspired by Lightbody’s father, who is suffering from dementia. “I think the album is defined by memory in a lot of ways,” says Lightbody, “including my father’s loss of memory.”
Snow Patrol have also announced shows in London, New York City & Los Angeles in April and throughout Ireland & Northern Ireland in May Tickets for these dates will be available for fans who purchase Wildness via the Official Snow Patrol store prior to Tuesday, 27 March at 5pm GMT. Remaining tickets will be available to the general public starting Friday, 30 March 30 at 10AM local time.
Snow Patrol will play the following shows:
11 April: London, UK, Islington Assembly Hall
18 April: New York, NY, Irving Plaza
25 April: Los Angeles, CA, The Fonda Theatre
11 May: Derry, UK, Millennium Forum
12 May: Cork, Ireland, Opera House
14 May: Killarney, Ireland, INEC
15 May: Dublin, Ireland, Olympia Theatre
16 May: Wexford, Ireland, Opera House
18 May: Galway, Ireland, Leisureland.
Wildness will be released on 25 May. Scroll down to read the full tracklisting and pre-order it here.
Wildness:
‘Life On Earth’
‘Don’t Give In’
‘Heal Me’
‘Empress’
‘A Dark Switch’
‘What If This Is All The Love You Ever Get?’
‘A Youth Written In Fire’
‘Soon’
‘Wild Horses’
‘Life And Death’
UK English
