Skunk Anansie have announced their hugely anticipated new studio album The Painful Truth. The new album, their seventh studio collection and first in nine years, will be released on May 23rd via FLG Records. To celebrate the band will be playing a very special headline show on day of release, just outside Bristol.
Alongside the news of the album comes the release of the second single to be taken from it, entitled ‘Cheers’. The striking lyric video for the single was created by bassist Cass’ godson, Miles Liverpool.
The Painful Truth is a truly mesmerising, provocative, powerful and emotional album demonstrating a band at the absolute peak of their powers, yet with everything to prove.
“I don’t care that we were big in the Nineties,” states vocalist Skin. “Creatively it’s irrelevant because in my rock bible the first commandment states, “If thy rest on them laurels thy shall wither up and die artistically, musically, mentally. And then financially.’”
And for Skin the past counts for nothing. Even when you’ve been a band for 30 years and history seems on your side. The Painful Truth is the sound of Skunk Anansie facing up to who they are and what they want to become. It is more than an album title. It is a reality that they have lived through.
A combination of parenthood, illness, and the departure of their longstanding manager seemed to conspire against them and add to their uncertainty, forcing singer Skin, guitarist Ace, bass player Cass and drummer Mark to question their place in the world as a band, as well as their own personal ambitions. For a while, they came close to calling it a day.
Unsure of what to do, and failing to write on zoom, the four-piece retreated post-Covid to a farmhouse in Devon where amid frank conversations and home-cooked dinners, they slowly began collating their feelings into songs.
“When we write it’s just the four of us in a room with no outside distractions or interference, getting to know each other again. We’d done the Greatest Hits tour and we realised that things needed to change. If we didn’t do something fresh and forward thinking, we couldn’t really be a band anymore. We’d just be doing Skunk karaoke,” says Skin bluntly.
And The Painful Truth is anything but Skunk karaoke. Produced by David Sitek of TV On The Radio fame it’s a fresh, frank, uplifting and textured album, with the band’s knack for writing big pop songs remaining defiantly undiminished. If anything, their hooks this time around are sharper and sink in quicker.
First single ‘An Artist Is An Artist’ is proof of that; a witty, provocative, pulsating slice of spiky, new-wave brilliance it has been greeted with a rapturous reception from fans and media alike, proving a radio smash with playlists on BBC6Music, Kerrang Radio, Planet Rock and Absolute alongside being championed by Jo Whiley on Radio 2. And brand new single ‘Cheers’, which rides along on a deeply infectious, pulsating rhythm and boasts a truly euphoric chorus, demonstrates once more the sheer quality and ambition of the new album.
The Painful Truth is a radical record made for these uncertain times. Their first release on the newly formed FLG Records, and with new management in place, it also comes with a freshness that belies their storied career and previous multi-platinum achievements. It’s a record that will see Skunk Anansie reclaim their place as one of the most exciting, visionary and important bands in British music.
“When I really think about it, yes, we have made some good records in our time but it’s been a long time since we have made a great album. And that is the painful truth,” confesses Skin. “Understanding that, led us to making what I genuinely think is our greatest record yet.”
Skunk Anansie will also be playing a very special headline show near Bristol on the day of the album release as follows:
May 23rd – Good Times at The Ridings, Chipping Sodbury
THE PAINFUL TRUTH tracklisting
1. An Artist Is An Artist
2. This Is Not Your Life
3. Shame
4. Lost And Found
5. Cheers
6. Shoulda Been You
7. Animal
8. Fell In Love With A Girl
9. My Greatest Moment
10. Meltdown
Skunk Anansie commence their European and UK headline tour in Portugal on February 28th and continue through Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Czechia, Poland, Denmark, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Belgium before ending in the UK with 15 shows.
SKUNK ANANSIE – UK TOUR 2025
March 28th London – Roundhouse (SOLD OUT)
March 29th London – Roundhouse (SOLD OUT)
March 31st Cardiff – Cardiff University (SOLD OUT)
April 1st Bristol – Bristol Beacon (SOLD OUT)
April 3rd Nottingham – Rock City (SOLD OUT)
April 4th Manchester – O2 Apollo (SOLD OUT)
April 5th Birmingham – O2 Academy Birmingham (SOLD OUT)
April 7th Norwich – The LCR (SOLD OUT)
April 8th Cambridge – Corn Exchange (SOLD OUT)
April 10th Glasgow – O2 Academy Glasgow (SOLD OUT)
April 11th Newcastle – NX Newcastle
April 12th Leeds – O2 Academy Leeds (SOLD OUT)
April 14th Bournemouth – O2 Academy Bournemouth (SOLD OUT)
April 15th Brighton – Brighton Dome (SOLD OUT)
April 16th Guildford – G Live
They have also recently been announced as Special Guests at the two outdoor Smashing Pumpkins shows in August.
Aug 10th London, Gunnersbury Park w/ Smashing Pumpkins
Aug 14th Colchester Castle Summer Series w/ Smashing Pumpkins
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