Mystery Jets release their new single ‘A Billion Heartbeats’, following its first play as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record In The World last night on Radio 1. Listen here. The single follows the reannouncement of the band’s new album, also called ‘A Billion Heartbeats’, which will be released on 3rd April, following the album’s postponement last September due to lead singer Blaine Harrison’s ill health.
‘A Billion Heartbeats’ as an album achieves a balance of passion, fear and hope. Amid the colourful cavalcade of rich harmonies, heavy guitars and rallying cries, the album’s essential message – about personal responsibility, and the power in becoming engaged. In a sense, it’s not just their “state of the nation” record but their “state of a generation” record too.
Blaine Harrison was living as a property guardian right around the corner from Trafalgar Square where he found himself witness to an entire year of protests in 2017. It was from here that Mystery Jets’ sixth long-player, A Billion Heartbeats, was born. “This album wasn’t about making pointed opinions,” says Blaine. “It was about being a mirror for what’s going on, reflecting back the way people are feeling.”
We increasingly hear from musicians that music should be an escape these days – that there’s enough suffering in the world, enough misery on the news, without writings songs about it too. A Billion Heartbeats makes all that sound like a bit of a cop-out. These are songs of protest that get the heart racing in joy; high on hope, and serious in their message. Proof, basically, that music speaks louder than words.
The band recently announced their rescheduled 2020 tour dates which are as follows:
10th April – Academy 2 – Manchester
11th April – Brewery Arts Centre – Kendal
13th April – The Wardrobe – Leeds
14th April – Oran Mor – Glasgow
16th April – The Caves – Edinburgh
17th – The Riverside – Newcastle
19th April – The Welly – Hull
20th April – O2 Academy 2 – Leicester
22nd April – O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
24th April – Trinity – Bristol
25th April – The Mill – Birmingham
27th April – O2 Academy – Oxford
29th April – Concorde 2 – Brighton
01st May – Junction – Cambridge