WILL VARLEY NEW SINGLE 'SEIZE THE NIGHT' OUT 11 MARCH 2016 // WATCH THE VIDEO NOW // UK HEADLINE TOUR

Will Varley kicks off 2016 with the release of new single ‘Seize The Night’ taken from the much-lauded album Postcards From Ursa Minor released back in October 2015. You can buy the album from XMR at our digital shop, from Amazon on physical formats, from our friends at Banquet Records on CD and vinyl or on download from iTunes.

'Seize The Night' is about living life to the full and sharing memories of good times from the past while remembering to savour each moment of the present the best you can. To reinforce these sentiments, labelmate, friend and tour buddy Frank Turner shows up to provide extra vocals on the track. The song has already had radio play on 6Music and Radio X, and it shows yet another side of Will’s multi-faceted writing and multitudinous ways with words.

Check out the video here:

Before the single, Will Varley will be heading out on a headline tour in February; 17 UK dates up and down the country culminating in his biggest headline show to date at London’s Scala on 10 March. Bristol is already sold out and more will follow so booking tickets should be your priority.

Support comes from Xylaroo and Molly’s Lips.

Full dates are below, or can be found at our XMR gigs calendar:

FEBRUARY

10 Newcastle, Cluny 2
11 Edinburgh, Voodoo Rooms
12 Glasgow, King Tuts
13 Manchester, Night and Day
18 Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
19 Liverpool, Buyers Club
20 Nottingham, Bodgea
23 Cambridge, J2 @ Junction
24 Norwich, Waterfront Studios
25 Birmingham, Hare & Hounds
26 Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach
27 Bristol, Louisiana SOLD OUT
28 Exeter, The Phoenix

MARCH

02 Plymouth, The Junction
03 Falmouth, Mono
04 Southampton, Joiners
10 London, Scala

However, this won’t be your only chance to see Will on tour this year – not by a long shot. He’s currently on tour with Frank Turner and Skinny Lister in Europe, before joining Skinny Lister and Beans On Toast on a North American XMR tour later in March. Dates for these support slots are below.

JANUARY (w/Frank Turner & Skinny Lister

21 Munich, Germany @ Tonhalle
23 Vienna, Austria @ Gasometer
24 Graz, Austria @ Orpheum
25 Wiesbaden, Germany @ Schlachthof
27 Hamburg, Germany @ Docks
28 Hamburg, Germany @ Docks
29 Köln, Germany @ Palladium

MARCH (USA tour w/ Skinny Lister & Beans On Toast)

17 Gainesville, FL @ High Dive (also w/ Frank Turner)
23 St Petersburg, FL @ Local 66
24 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
25 Nashville, TN @ The Basement
26 Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Café
28 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
29 Chicago, IL @ Schubas Tavern
31 Toronto, ON, Canada @ Horseshoe Tavern

APRIL (USA tour w/Skinny Lister & Beans On Toast

01 Brooklyn, NY @ Black Bear Bar
02 Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East
03 Philadelphia, PA @ Milkboy

These tours already follow a jam-packed couple of years for Will who has played at The Royal Albert Hall for the Teenage Cancer Trust, headlined his own spring tour in 2015, played dates with cult legend Beans On Toast, released an EP, and spent last summer supporting The Proclaimers across the UK as well as festival appearances at Bestival, Secret Garden Party, Green Man and BoomTown among others. 

facebook.com/willvarleymusic / Twitter @willvarleymusicwww.willvarley.com

FAILURE DEBUT VIDEO FOR 'COUNTERFEIT SKY' ON PITCHFORK // US TOUR ON 9 OCTOBER 2015 // EUROPEAN TOUR WITH REFUSED 1–5 DECEMBER 2015

Failure have premiered the video for 'Counterfeit Sky' from their new album The Heart Is A Monster, which you can buy from the Xtra Mile digital shop now. The clip was an exclusive for Pitchfork yesterday. You can watch it below.

Ken Andrews explains the origin of the eye-catching, sci-fi clip: “The video was created by visual effects specialist Kevin Margo with footage from his award-winning short film, ‘Grounded.’” Margo’s film featured an original score by Andrews.

Failure’s upcoming tour, which will include guitar player Troy Van Leeuwen, a first since the band reunited, launches tomorrow in Jacksonville, Fla. “After 18 years it’s a real joy to rejoin one of my favorite bands,” said Van Leeuwen. “When I originally joined Failure in 1996, I had no idea of the musical journey that was ahead of me. The chemistry we have in a live setting is a special experience and I can’t wait to share it with fans old and new."

Van Leeuwen was a touring member during shows for their third album Fantastic Planet before joining Queens of the Stone Age. He makes a guest appearance on The Heart Is A Monster.

Failure join Refused for a brief, early-December European outing. All upcoming tour dates below and on our full label gigs calendar.

Tour dates:

October

09   Jacksonville, FL @ Freebird Live *
10   Ft. Lauderdale, FL  @ Revolution *
11 Orlando, FL @ House of Blues *
13   Norfolk, VA @ Norva **
14   New York, NY @ FLOODfest (CMJ) @ Brooklyn Bowl
15   Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre **
17   St. Louis, MO @ The Firebird ***
19   Albuquerque, NM @ The Launchpad ***
20   Tucson, AZ @ The Rock ***
21   Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom ***
22   Las Vegas, NV @ Fremont Country Club ***
24   Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst ***
25   Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock Festival
27 Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent ****
28 Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues ****
29 San Diego, CA @ The Music Box ****

December

01   Paris, France @ Trianon #
03   Antwerp, Belgium @ Trix #
04   Wiesbaden, Germany @ Schlachtof #
05   Hamburg, Germany @ Docks #

January

23 Brisbane, QLD @ Soundwave
24   Sydney, NSW, Australia @ Soundwave
26   Melbourne, VIC, Australia @ Soundwave

* - w/Hum and Torche
** - w/Torche
*** - w/Local H
**** - w/Trail of the Dead and Local H
# - w/Refused

With this new round of tour dates, the band is offering a Technical VIP package (in addition to their regular VIP fan experience) designed for the professional musician, engineer or technician interested in knowing the tech behind the show. As part of the VIP upgrade, Ken Andrews gives a limited number of fans a personal tour of the Failure live set up, the specific equipment used onstage, a live demonstration of the guitar / bass rigs, monitoring system, as well as a tour of the front of house equipment, and a Q&A session with Ken. VIP packages are available via www.failureband.com.

Rolling Stone said The Heart Is A Monster “brilliantly picks up where Fantastic Planet left off”, Alternative Press said “by reviving its past, Failure has taken a most decisive step into the present", and Entertainment Weekly described the album as “a jaw-dropping slab of throbbing, fuzzy, visceral space rock”.

www.facebook.com/failureband / Twitter @Failurewww.failureband.com

FRANK TURNER'S NEW VIDEO 'JOSEPHINE' // WATCH NOW

The video for 'Josephine' from Frank Turner's No. 2 UK album charting Positive Songs For Negative People is available to watch right now. See it below.

The new album 'Positive Songs For Negative People' is out now: http://fthc.cc/PSFNPdeluxe Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls go on tour later this year: http://fthc.cc/Store http://frank-turner.com/ https://www.facebook.com/frankturnermusic https://twitter.com/frankturner https://instagram.com/frankturner http://fthc.cc/spotify http://vevo.ly/1TW12q

You can purchase the album on vinyl, CD, deluxe CD and download. The deluxe iTunes download gives you the bonus acoustic album and the iTunes-only album outtake 'Old Flames'. Get that here

Frank is on an extensive tour in support of the album, starting in the US before a November UK tour. You can see the dates and check ticket links on our gigs calendar.

SKINNY LISTER NEW VIDEO 'THIS CITY' — WATCH NOW

Skinny Lister have revealed their new video — featuring the extraordinary drumming talent of Kagemusha Taiko — for standout track 'This City' from the album Down On Deptford Broadway. You can purchase the album on clear vinyl, CD and download from our digital shop.

Watch the video for 'This City' below:

Drumming by Kagemusha Taiko. Taiko drums courtesy of Miyamoto Unosuke Shoten. 'This City' taken from 'Down On Deptford Broadway' album, released on Xtra Mile Recordings.

These road veterens support Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls on their huge US tour (with label mate Beans On Toast) and the November UK arena tour (with label mate Will Varley). Dates and ticket links can be found on our gigs calendar.

facebook.com/skinnylister / Twitter @skinnylister / skinnylister.com

FRANZ NICOLAY REVEALS NEW VIDEO 'BRIGHT WHITE' // NEW ALBUM 'TO US, THE BEAUTIFUL' OUT NOW

Franz Nicolay unleashes the new video for track ‘Bright White’ in preparation for his forthcoming UK tour.  Taken from his latest album To Us, The Beautiful – out now through Xtra Mile Recordings on CD, clear and blue splatter vinyl, and download – this video was directed by friend and bandmate Andrew Seward (ex-Against Me!). You can watch the video below:

The video was recorded while on the road with the full band, exploring the brief but intense life spiral of a band on tour. Mostly filmed from the car dashboard as they travel across country, and in a homely, untidy motel room, we peek into the sleep- and-drive rigmarole of travelling musicians. Surrounded by the trappings of their lifestyle (like gaffer tape and bottles of water) it captures the essence of Franz’s hard-working but ultimately free artistry. ‘Bright White’ also spills over with this, rooted in riffs and combustible breakdowns but with Franz’s eloquent, eccentric vocals flung over the results. 

Photo by Andrew Seward

Photo by Andrew Seward

To Us, The Beautiful is Franz’s fourth solo full-length and his second with Xtra Mile Recordings, and provides newcomers with a refreshing burst of elegant, eccentric and elegiac songs with a deliberate rock bent. Long-term fans will find a more straightforward chapter in Franz’s story, still gleaming with banjo twang and his distinctive theatrical voice, so they won’t be lost among the distortion and melodic drive.

Franz will be live in the UK in March 2015, let him wow you at a show or two. Look at our gigs calendar.

Praise for Franz Nicolay:

“Natural-born star…really something special.” – Pitchfork
“A great storyteller and wordsmith.” – Punknews

Praise for To Us, The Beautiful:

"Nicolay could probably sing the phone book and make it sound like Dostoevsky." - Éclat
"Fantastic...all of the scope and grandeur we've come to expect from a Franz Nicolay full-length...Franz Nicolay is the complete songwriter and To Us, The Beautiful is undoubtedly the first great record of 2015." - The Ruckus
"Perhaps his most accessible record to date...At its heart, this is a pure punk-rock record...balance[d] between boisterous celebration and punk-rock anger...an album that lives with you after you've pressed the pause button...a bold and confident statement. 4.5/5" - Contact Music
"Exhilarating...It’s a staggering album, maybe the first truly great release of 2015. 4.5/5" - God Is In The TV
"Filled with huge torch songs, heartfelt acoustic numbers and buzzing three-minute pop songs. 4/5" - Already Heard
"Every track brings its own reward...Recommend[ed]." - Echoes and Dust
"Masterfully emotional song-writing. 8/10" - Toxic Online
"A ramshackle treat." – Stereoboard

www.franznicolay.com / @FranzNicolay / Facebook