The Heavy announce new album on Counter Records

Bath quartet The Heavy will return on April 1 with ‘Hurt & The Merciless’ (Counter Records), their self-produced fourth album and their most powerful and personal to date. The band will launch ‘Hurt & The Merciless’ with a very special intimate show at London’s Moth Club on February 16 (already sold-out), and will embark on a major UK & European tour in May. The Heavy have also announced a string of upcoming US headline dates plus shows at SXSW and Coachella Festivals.

Perhaps best known for their global hit ‘How You Like Me Now?’, The Heavy’s genre-blending sound has been described as fusing “Prince, The Rolling Stones and 60’s Garage” (Q) and “breathing sweaty life into garage-punk, ska, voodoo funk, swamp rock, dub, blues and classic R&B/soul” (Uncut). It’s an intoxicating mix that has brought the band considerable international success. They’ve had over 100 million online streams and their songs have appeared in many of the coolest films and TV series of the past few years, including soundtracking trailers to two of 2016’s most important releases, ‘The Hateful Eight’ and ‘The Big Short’.

Whilst making ‘Hurt & The Merciless’, The Heavy went through some dark times. There was death, divorce, near break-ups and breakdowns. It all feeds into their most exhilarating record yet. “We attack all of these things,” says frontman Kelvin Swaby, “and the only way we know how to do that is by writing incredible music.”

Everything Swaby and his band-mates guitarist Dan Taylor, bassist Spencer Page and drummer Chris Ellul have achieved over the past decade feels like it has been leading to this point. They’ve mixed the lightning bolts of their live show with a batch of their strongest songs yet. ‘Hurt & The Merciless’ is the sound of a thrilling rock’n’roll band fighting back.

Lead single ‘Since You Been Gone’ is exuberant, crushing soul with big horns and a backing chorus. The video has been directed by Focus Creeps (Arctic Monkeys, King Krule) and stars Thomas Turgoose (‘This Is England’) and Abigail Hardingham (‘Nina Forever’). Watch the premiere here.

The Heavy ‘Hurt & The Merciless’ Track List:

1. Since You Been Gone
2. What Happened To The Love?
3. Not The One
4. The Apology
5. Nobody’s Hero
6. Miss California
7. Turn Up
8. A Ghost You Can’t Forget
9. Last Confession
10. Mean Ol’ Man
11. Slave To Your Love
12. Goodbye Baby

TOUR DATES:

• Feb 16 The Moth Club – London (SOLD OUT)
• March 6 Okeechobee Music and Arts Festival - Okeechobee, FL
• March 8 National Sawdust - NY, NY (SOLD OUT)
• March 15/20 SXSW - Austin, TX
• April 17 Coachella Festival - Indio, CA
• April 20 The Roxy - Los Angeles, CA
• April 22 The Glasshouse (support for The Arcs) - Pomona, CA
• April 24 Coachella Festival - Indio, CA
• April 25 Velvet Jones - Santa Barbara, CA
• April 26 The Independent - San Francisco, CA
• April 27 The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, CA
• April 29 Bossanova Ballroom - Portland, OR
• May 1 Neumos - Seattle, WA
• May 2 Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver, BC
• May 12 Academy 2 - Birmingham
• May 13 Academy 2 - Manchester
• May 14 University - Newcastle
• May 15 Oran Mor - Glasgow
• May 17 Heaven - London
• May 18 O2 Academy - Bristol
• May 20 Trix Club - Antwerp, Belgium
• May 21 Melkweg - Amsterdam, Netherlands
• May 22 Luxor - Cologne, Germany
• May 23 Columbia Theater - Berlin, Germany
• May 25 Mascotte - Zurich, Switzerland
• May 26 Trabendo - Paris, France