Turin Brakes bounce back with Spacehopper and announce tour
By Dan Biggane | March 15, 2025
Turin Brakes bounce back with Spacehopper, the title track from their brand new studio album.
Talking about the new song, frontman Olly Knights, said: “I wrote the initial idea when my younger daughters were quite literally bouncing around on the grass in the summer sun on a bright yellow space hopper.
“No smart phones, just a simple planet-shaped rubber ball with a smiley face, like the last 40 years had all been a weird daydream and it was in fact still 1975. Instead of taking a photo on my phone, I grabbed a guitar and out came the song; hopefully, it captured some of the joy of that moment.”
Listen below:
Bouncing Back
Produced by the band alongside Grammy-winning Guy Massey (with credits such as Kylie Minogue, Ed Sheeran and Spiritualized), Spacehopper is their first new music in over three years and marks the 10th studio album from Turin Brakes, a big milestone for a band who released their debut album over 24 years ago – The Mercury Prize nominated The Optimist LP.
They are a band that understands the art of longevity and Spacehopper promises to be a worthy edition to a rich and sonically diverse catalogue of albums, finding the South London four-piece in a reflective mood…
“We deliberately went back to Konk Studios where we made The Optimist LP, having stayed away for 25 years,” says Knights. “In some ways to connect to the source but also to be who we are now in that amazing room. It felt like some deep invisible forces were being moved around. The new record is totally its own thing; there are little nods to the debut, but it’s a different beast. It can never be as simple and perfect as the debut, so we didn’t try; we backed ourselves.”
“We honestly don’t normally get self-reflective but the whole album 10 thing definitely made us want to play with everything that throws up. The dreams, what worked out, what didn’t, the regrets, the nice surprises… It just seemed like a good moment to admit we’re in on our own legacy in a way. I quite flippantly said at the start we’d be a ‘10 albums kind of band’. I guess I meant it!”
UK & Ireland Headline Tour
Along with the album announcement, Turin Brakes have announced a tour of the UK and Ireland:
Friday 7 November – Empire, Belfast
Saturday 8 November – Whelan’s, Dublin
Thursday 13 November – The Brook, Southampton
Friday 14 November – Concorde 2, Brighton
Saturday 15 November – Electric Ballroom, London
Sunday 16 November – The Fleece, Bristol
Thursday 20 November – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Friday 21 November – St Lukes, Glasgow
Saturday 22 November – New Century Hall, Manchester
Sunday 23 November – Institute 2, Birmingham
Thursday 27 November – Epic Studios, Norwich
Friday 28 November – Metronome, Nottingham
Saturday 29 November – The Phoenix, Exeter
Sunday 30 November – Old Fire Station, Bournemouth
Tickets for the tour go on sale at 10am on 19 March and the new album is released on 23 May. Pre-save here
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