Cupid missed and Rianne Downey found it 'Hard' - New Single!

An age old story of Cupid’s aim being not quite so sharp, yet causing untold mischief before abandoning the lost cause of never-to-be love, is told in Hard, the latest from-the-broken-heart single from the incomparable Rianne Downey. Courage repaid with the blessing of perfectly formed, high-emotion pop, Downey’s brave, confessional song writing and one-of-a-kind voice carries her into another headline UK Tour this year having announced a run of six dates, setting off with an already SOLD-OUT Liverpool show on Sat 18 March 2023.

Bigger venues beckon with the natural growth of Downey’s reputation, aided by the hard work of a near-permanent state of touring since she announced her return, and her forthcoming Come What May EP, last autumn with the release of Home. That slow burning poem to the sleepy place she called home before moving to the big city is now followed by the coming-of-age, no pain no gain, soaring song that speaks to the past, of the one that got away and the realisation that it was never to be.

Downey says of the single: “It’s a love song and the first straight up love song I’ve released. It’s about trying to make it work out but it’s just not destined to be, though everything’s going to work out, one way or the other, in the end. Sometimes people, especially women, can be tricked into thinking they can change the person they’re with to make an imperfect situation perfect but it’s not going to be as simple as that

Winter saw Downey, winner of the Tennent's Breakthrough Award at the 2023 Specsavers Scottish Music Awards, take to the road with Red Rum Club for a run of celebratory, nationwide dates before supporting Michael Head and The Red Elastic Band and announcing her own tour for this spring. With blink-and-you’ll-miss-them tickets now also gone for Downey’s return to Scotland for her date in Glasgow, the full run of upcoming UK Tour dates is as follows:

• Sat 18 March – Liverpool, Kazimier Stock Room – SOLD OUT
• Sun 19 March – Leeds, Oporto
• Tue 21 March – London, The Grace
• Wed 22 March – Birmingham, Dead Wax
• Thu 23 March – Manchester, Deaf Institute
• Sat 25 March – Glasgow, King Tuts – SOLD OUT

Remaining tickets can be found via See Tickets and Ticketmaster.

With more new music yet to come over the course of 2023, Hard was recorded in the company of producer, John Kettle, mentor to and producer of The Lathums’ earliest recordings, amongst other, emergent artists.

Joining Downey on the road and in the studio, her band is made up of Nathaniel Laurence (guitars), Phil Murphy (drums) and Sam Topping (bass), now as cohesive a group of musicians as any other having experienced so many miles and motorway service stations together in recent months. Crystal clear of vision as to what her future recordings should sound like, Downey returned twice to the studio – both with Kettle and Rich Turvey (Blossoms, Courteeners, The Coral) – to ensure that every note on the Come What May EP hit the mark. The results now speak for themselves.

Meeting the challenge of upping the ante following the sell-out vinyl success of her 2021’s debut Fuel To The Flame EP, Downey’s emboldened and matured approach to song writing and recording is met with a healthy affection for the past, returning to influences such as Flyte, Taylor Swift and her enduring hero, Paolo Nutini, for inspiration.