The new record will arrive 26 January, 2024 via Lower Third and will also arrive ahead of a run of European and UK shows for the band throughout February, March and April.
Tickets will go on sale from tomorrow, Friday, 10 November.
To celebrate the announcement of the new album, the band have shared new single ‘Throw’, an upbeat pop-rock track that utilises vocoder-effected vocals to create a buoyant tune that’s a great tone-setter for the new album – have a listen via its video below.
Recording of New Last Name saw the band team up with Gary and Ryan Jarman of The Cribs on production duties and will also contain the band’s previously released single ‘Flex’.
The album will mark the follow-up to Courting’s debut album Guitar Music, which dropped in September last year.
Frontman Sean Murphy O’Neill has said of the project: “It’s a theatrical play within an album. There’s a lot going on. It can be simply enjoyed as an album, but there are characters, acts, stage directions etc.
READ MORE: Heartworms releases new single ‘May I Comply’
“The listeners can decide on the narrative themselves, but we want them to get lost in it.”
He added, though, “I’ll admit that New Last Name isn’t really a play. Whilst it is tied together by a narrative thread – it’s actually a collection of our most contained pop songs, and strangest experiments sat side by side.”
As an example of how that plays out, O’Neill has shared of the new single: “We wanted to write a song with a plot twist, a song that could be described as ‘an epic’.
“Lamenting a past love, our protagonist returns to ‘the city’, and remembers, misremembers, and forgets just about everything that has happened beforehand. Drawing a blank, they pray to be wished away to a simpler time.”
And as well as releasing impressive, considered tunes, the band also sound like an full-throttled creative bunch to work with, with The Cribs’ Gary Jarman explaining of their time in the studio and their collaboration: “We had really enjoyed their debut LP Guitar Music – the knowing title and the freedom with which they were prepared to sabotage their melodies with noise really spoke to us.
READ MORE: Teeth Machine drop ‘Shiny’ new single
“But underneath all of that restless experimentalism and layers of chaos it was clear that there was some very sophisticated songwriting going on. So we were really excited to see how they approached their follow up LP.
“The recording of a second album can be the most consequential time in an artist’s career – either the moment that their ability catches up with their enthusiasm and the real magic happens, or conversely the struggle to follow up on that first flush of inspiration (the dreaded sophomore slump).
“We knew as soon as we heard the demos that Courting were taking the step up to the next level.”
Having recently been announced as main touring support for Circa Waves, Courting are slowly establishing themselves as a strong live force, developed as well by their numerous festival appearances this summer, including at Reading & Leeds, Wide Eyed Festival, The Great Escape and more.
Check out the full dates for their forthcoming live shows below – and visit the band’s site for more information and to buy tickets.
6/2 – Portland Arms, Cambridge
7/2 – CHALK, Brighton
8/2 – Facebar, Reading
9/2 – Dingwalls, London
10/2 – The Rainbow, Birmingham
12/2 – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
13/2 – The Bodega Social Club, Nottingham
14/2 – YES, Manchester
16/2 – King Tuts, Glasgow
17/2 – The Mash House, Edinburgh
18/2 – The Cluny, Newcastle
19/2 – The Leadmill, Sheffield
20/2 – The Joiners, Southampton
21/2 – Voodoo Daddy’s, Norwich
22/2 – Exchange, Bristol
27/3 – Paradiso – Amsterdam, NL
28/3 – Botanique – Rotonde – Brussels, BE
1/4 – Point Ephemere – Paris, FR
2/4 – L’Aeronef – Lille, FR
3/4 – L’Ubu – Rennes, FR
5/4 – Rock School Barbey – Bordeaux, FR
7/4 – Auditorio CCOP – Porto, PT
8/4 – Musicbox – Lisbon, PT
9/4 – Maravillas – Madrid, ES
10/4 – Heliogabal – Barcelona, ES
11/4 – Paloma – Nimes, FR
15/4 – Schokoladen – Berlin, DE
16/4 – Molotow – Hamburg, DE
17/4 – Bumann & Sohn – Cologne, DE
