Elbows fifth EP, released on June 6th, was written by the band as a continuation of their fourth UK Number 1 album ‘AUDIO VERTIGO’, released in March of last year.

Looking back lyrically while continuing to move forward musically, lead singer Guy Garvey describes the record as “finishing something for the band in lots of ways. We are having more fun in the studio than ever before. Craig’s on fire as a producer, Pete and Alex are the coolest rhythm section working and Pot’s unpredictable rhythm guitar has started working its way into such a soulful and accomplished place. The words are all stories from my past, sometimes joyful, often dark, but all of it exciting and mostly true. It feels like we’re having another go on the Waltzers after hours.”

For long term elbow fans, the subjects of the four songs offer a basket of Easter Eggs to discover and enjoy.

Lead track ‘Dis-Graceland 463-465 Bury New Road’ is named in honour of the former residence of the Seldom Seen Kid, Bryan Glancy. Reminiscing about an ‘old Victorian villa with no central heating that became a modern Angkor Wat’ following Bryan’s departure via a slide into ruin and decrepitude, the track revisits a perennial Garvey theme of the dawn and references Guy’s time as a 17 year old sofa surfer in the Manchester area. The topline melody for the track was written by Doves’ Jimi Goodwin, another long-term ally and friend of Guy and the band and is both a testament to Manchester’s musical legacy and a celebration of both youth and the joy of reflecting on past times in later life.

Echoes from the past surface in ‘Timber’ with ‘little laddie-o’, Guy’s name for son Jack, being a hand me down from his mum whilst adding to numerous songs in the elbow catalogue where “I give myself advice in a song”. The motorik rhythms of previous release ‘Adriana Again’ propel a song that mythologises the past through half true fragments of relationships and friendships.

The album, and the album period of ‘AUDIO VERTIGO’, which has seen elbow rediscover their widescreen musical palette and reconnect, closes in appropriate fashion with the disco stomp of ‘Sober’. Unlike anything else in the band’s canon yet immediately identifiable as them, the track was the first thing they worked on with drummer Al Reeves yet had to be set aside for the reset until now, where the new elbow approach found the track ready to be shot through with glitter and groove and joy.

To celebrate a hugely successful two years, elbow play a series of major headline shows throughout summer 2025, including a return to Latitude Festival. All dates follow:

LIVE SUMMER 2025

• Friday 13th June - Cardiff Castle (with The Coral and Billie Marten)
• Thursday 19th June - Westonbirt Arboretum (with The Coral and Billie Marten)
• Friday 20th June - London, Hampton Court Palace SOLD OUT
• Saturday 21^st June - London, Hampton Court Palace EXTRA DATE ADDED
• Wednesday 2nd July - Manchester Castlefield Bowl (with The Slow Readers Club)
• Thursday 3rd July - York Museum Gardens (with Billie Marten and Eliza Carthy & The Restitution) SOLD OUT
• Sunday 6th July - Warwick St Nicholas Park
• Saturday 12th July - Tynemouth, Priory and Castle SOLD OUT
• Sunday 27^th July - Latitude Festival
• Thursday 7^th August - Glasgow, Kelvingrove Park SOLD OUT
• Friday 8^th August - Glasgow, Kelvingrove Park SOLD OUT
• Saturday 9^th August - Glasgow, Kelvingrove Park SOLD OUT
• Live: 5 July @ Rock Werchter