NEWS
Blood Orange has announced his new album ‘Essex Honey’ and shared the first two tracks – listen to ‘Mind Loaded’ and ‘Somewhere In Between’ below.
The album will be the first album from Blood Orange – aka Dev Hynes – since 2018’s ‘Negro Swan’ and it will feature appearances from Hynes’ previous collaborators Lorde, Caroline Polachek, Daniel Caesar, Mustafa, Turnstile’s Brendan Yates and Tariq Al-Sabir.
Also appearing are author Zadie Smith, The Durutti Column, Wet’s Kelly Zutrau, Tirzah and actors Naomi Scott and Amandla Stenberg. The record is released on August 29 via RCA Records and you can pre-order it here.
The first tastes of ‘Essex Honey’ come in the form of ‘Mind Loaded’, a minimalist but blissfully warm track that features vocals from Polachek, Lorde and Mustafa, and ‘Somewhere In Between’, a busier, slinky R&B track. Listen to both here:
A press release states that ‘Essex Honey’ is an album that has been “created from a dreamscape of his journey working through grief” and harkens back to his childhood growing up in the titular county.
Earlier this month, Hynes announced details of a UK and European tour for Blood Orange that will kick off later this year. It follows on from his upcoming US tour and kicks off in Berlin on October 29, with London shows planned for November 8, 9 and 10. See the full list of dates here and find UK tickets here and international tickets here.
Several of his US dates will see him opening for Lorde on her huge tour supporting new album ‘Virgin’, several songs of which were produced by Hynes. He also played cello and bass on the single ‘Man Of The Year’ and synths and guitar on ‘Favourite Daughter’.
He continues to be one of the most in-demand producers in alternative music, with the news coming this week that he has worked on ‘We Are Love’, the forthcoming new album from The Charlatans.
He also appeared on Turnstile’s ‘Seein’ Stars’ from the album ‘Never Enough’ this summer, contributing backing vocals, and also played cello on ‘Never Enough’ and ‘Look Out For Me’.
In a five-star review of ‘Negro Swan’ in 2018, NME wrote: “Spoken-word interludes from writer and transgender activist Janet Mock pepper the album, punctuating the stream-of-conscious, journey-into-the-unknown experience. At times, ‘Negro Swan’ crosses over from album and into a radio station from a world just outside ours; Dev Hynes has created a fabulous collection of cascading sounds.”
Take That have revealed details of their upcoming album Dreamers, shared news of a fresh single titled Feel My Love, and unveiled international dates for their 2027 Dreamers Tour.
Nearly two months after completing their second Circus tour, the hugely successful trio of Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald have announced an extensive European schedule featuring over 30 concerts. They have also revealed that their tenth studio record is scheduled for release later this year.
The album’s third track, Feel My Love, will be available next Friday, September 4, 2026, and features Irish American singer and songwriter Michael Patrick Kelly.
The song comes after You’re A Superstar and Sweet July, both of which were performed throughout The Circus Live tour.
The Dreamers Tour will be Take That’s largest European run in several years, with 31 concerts scheduled across 16 countries, including Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Italy, Denmark and Ireland. The journey will open in Zurich on June 3 before concluding in Tüßling, Germany, on July 23, while additional performances are expected to be revealed. Audiences will hear songs from Dreamers alongside favourites from the group’s 30 year catalogue.
Those hoping to access tickets ahead of the public sale can preorder Dreamers beginning September 2 at 10am local time. Presales through participating venues will start on September 3, followed by the general release of tickets one day later. Complete tour information can be found at takethat.com.
The announcement of fresh music and further concerts will come as welcome news to supporters, particularly after Gary opened up about the difficult emotions he experienced following The Circus Live tour.
Speaking honestly in a video posted to Instagram, the 55 year old performer admitted that he had “fallen off a cliff” after the returning tour finished at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on July 4.
He explained that he had spent several weeks attempting to film the message: “Whenever we come off tour, it always feels a little bit of an anti-climax… but for some reason, it just feels like I’ve completely fallen off a cliff since the end of the shows.”
Gary also reached out to anyone experiencing similar feelings after the concerts, explaining that the emotional intensity of performing appears to become stronger with every passing year.
Looking back on the happiness the tour brought, he confirmed that The Circus will not be staged for a third time because the demanding production has become too physically challenging at his age.
While hinting at what comes next, Gary said: “I got to run away with The Circus twice. Now I’m running towards our next exciting, brand-new show."
Alongside a recently released Netflix documentary offering viewers a glimpse behind the scenes, Take That’s Manchester concert during the returning Circus run became the most viewed live streamed UK performance so far after airing through Amazon Music.
