More than half a decade since the release of their last album, Glasgow’s dramatic and melancholic rockers The Twilight Sad have returned to the fold with a new single and a wide-ranging tour with UK and Ireland dates. Tickets for the tour go on sale at 10am on Friday 31 October.  Scroll to the bottom of this article for a detailed list of the band’s UK and Ireland performances. 

The new single, which is out now on all streaming platforms, is called ‘Waiting For The Phone Call’ and features a guest spot from The Cure’s Robert Smith on guitar. Starting with spare synths and electric drums, it’s a slow build track combining the barren landscapes of their Andrew Weatherall-produced No One Can Ever Know with the unrelenting thrust of 2019’s It Won/t Be Like This All The Time. Is this a teaser for a forthcoming album? While nothing has been confirmed, recent rumblings from the band (who’ve also updated their social media accounts with new artwork) would point in that direction. 

James Graham, frontman of The Twilight Sad, said: '"Waiting For The Phone Call" is about grief, love, and mental illness. These things took over my life and I became ill. I lost the person most important to me in one of the cruellest ways. I’ve always used writing as a method of processing and coping with my emotions. My emotions became a problem and I couldn’t control them. Writing music with Andy… especially the past seven years, had been both the escape and the opportunity to process and try and make sense of life. We’ve all been waiting on a phone call that can change our lives at some point. This unfortunately focuses on a phone call that you never want to have.”

The band’s connection with The Cure has a long history, with Robert Smith first revealing himself to be a fan when he contributed a remix of their single ‘It Never Was The Same’ at their request. The Twilight Sad have since toured frequently with The Cure and remixed a song for their Mixes Of A Lost World project released this year. ‘They are the best band playing the best songs,’ Smith has remarked of the Sad lads, ‘consistently brilliant, emotional, intense, inspiring, entertaining.’ 

Kicking off at Bristol’s Electric on Wednesday 29 April, The Twilight Sad will then visit London’s Roundhouse on Thursday 30 April, Manchester’s New Century Hall on Saturday 2 May, Newcastle’s Boiler Shop on Sunday 3 May, Glasgow’s Barrowlands Tuesday 5 May and Dublin’s Button Factory on Saturday 9 May. 

Listen to ‘Waiting For The Phone Call’ below. 

The Twilight Sad’s 2026 UK and Ireland tour dates: 

Electric, Bristol, Wednesday 29 April 
Roundhouse, London, Thursday 30 April 
New Century Hall, Manchester, Saturday 2 May 
Boiler Shop, Newcastle, Sunday 3 May 
Barrowlands, Glasgow, Tuesday 5 May 
Button Factory, Dublin, Saturday 9 May 

Tickets for The Twilight Sad’s UK and Ireland tour dates go on sale at 10am on Friday 31 October; main picture: Kidston Raymonde.