Big Special are on a roll, and they’re not slowing down anytime soon. The Black Country duo have just announced their latest single, ‘Stay Down, Lazarus’ (stream here), a collaboration with none other than John Grant. The track, which is out now via SO Recordings, is a dark, atmospheric anthem about the false promises of social mobility. It’s one of those songs that hooks you with its brooding energy, and it’s got the unmistakable stamp of Grant’s songwriting flair all over it.
Lead singer Joe Hicklin sums it up perfectly: “Stay Down, Lazarus is just a big moan about the social promise of elevation and rising up, that doesn’t really exist for most people. We’re still pinching ourselves that John Grant wanted to get involved.”
And Grant? He’s just as pumped: “Was very psyched that Big Special asked me along for the ride on this track. Had a blast doing this!”
The collaboration comes hot on the heels of Big Special’s debut album, Postindustrial Hometown Blues, which broke into the UK’s Top 40 and saw them storm some of the country’s biggest festival stages—think Glastonbury, Green Man, Reading & Leeds.
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If that wasn’t enough, the band have also announced they’ll be hitting the road with Grant on his upcoming UK and European tour. The support slots start on 17th October at Hackney Church, London (already sold out) and wrap up with a bang on 15th November at Rolling Stone Beach Festival in Germany. After that, Big Special will continue their headlining journey, hitting spots as far-flung as India, Thailand, and Australia.
To top it all off, they’ll be headlining their own show at London’s O2 Forum in Kentish Town on 29th March 2025. Tickets are already on sale, and you’ll want to grab yours before they’re gone.
Big Special are on the rise, and if ‘Stay Down, Lazarus’ is anything to go by, they’re not looking back.
Big Special 2024 Live Dates:
- 17 Oct – Hackney Church, London, UK (SOLD OUT)
- 18 Oct – Hackney Church, London, UK
- 19 Oct – The Fire Station, Sunderland, UK
- 21 Oct – Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow, UK
- 22 Oct – Vicar Street, Dublin, IE (SOLD OUT)
- 24 Oct – The Tramshed, Cardiff, UK
- 25 Oct – Beacon, Bristol, UK
- 26 Oct – De La Warr Pavillion, Bexhill, UK (SOLD OUT)
- 28 Oct – Town Hall, Birmingham, UK (SOLD OUT)
- 29 Oct – Epic Studios, Norwich, UK
- 31 Oct – New Century Hall, Manchester, UK (SOLD OUT)
- 01 Nov – Project House, Leeds, UK (SOLD OUT)
- 02 Nov – Philharmonic, Liverpool, UK
- 06 Nov – Kulturkirche, Cologne, DE
- 07 Nov – Columbia Theater, Berlin, DE
- 09 Nov – Train, Aarhus, DK
- 10 Nov – Vega, Copenhagen, DK
- 11 Nov – Nalen, Stockholm, SE
- 13 Nov – Rockefeller Music Hall, Oslo, NO
- 15 Nov – Rolling Stone Beach Festival, DE
- 29 Mar – O2 Forum, Kentish Town, London, UK (Headline show)
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- Big Special
- EU tour 2024
- John Grant
- O2 Forum London
- Postindustrial Hometown Blues
- SO Recordings
- Stay Down Lazarus
- UK tour 2024