Ferris and Sylvester have shared their new EP Side A (Storm) following the huge success of their debut album Superhuman.
They are set to headline a huge 23-date UK and Ireland tour in February and March 2024, taking in a Manchester gig at the Deaf Institute and a show at Liverpool’s Camp and Furnace.
Superhuman debuted at number 1 on the Official Jazz and Blues Albums Chart and won widespread acclaim including UK Album of the Year at the 2023 UK Americana Awards.
Now Ferris and Sylvester have shared their new EP as they build towards their new album Otherness which will land in March.
New EP Side A (Storm) replicates Side A of the album in full, giving fans the opportunity to experience the album’s first side of the vinyl release in digital form. It features Ferris and Sylvester’s most recent four releases: Dark Side, Imposter, anti-love song Don’t Fall In Love With Me and Mother. It also features brand new song End of the World, imagining a love ended only by an imminent apocalypse.
Speaking about the writing of Otherness, Issy Ferris said, “When writing this album, we felt each side of vinyl told its own story. This side is called ‘Storm’, as that’s how these songs felt when writing them – like a storm coming thick and fast, unstoppable and full of thunder.”
While the Otherness album finds Ferris and Sylvester exploring a wealth of genres, it is united by lyrics which explore the loneliness and disconnection that comes with feeling like an outsider. It was also inspired by the particularly challenging personal circumstances that came during a festival trip in Nashville last year. Issy became life-threateningly ill while heavily pregnant, leading to their son, Lucky, being born six-and-a-half weeks prematurely. After he spent three weeks in intensive care, it was then another four weeks before the new family could return home to the UK.
Archie Sylvester adds, “We know how it feels to have everything pulled from underneath you. And yet, somehow the world keeps spinning and we have to figure out a way to move along with it. We hope this album and our story can offer comfort and courage to those going through anything that has scarred them, or shaped them. You are not alone. This album is for anyone who feels like an outsider.”
When do Ferris and Sylvester headline at Manchester’s Deaf Institute?
Ferris and Sylvester headline at Manchester’s Deaf Institute on 29 February 2024. They will headline at Liverpool’s Camp and Furnace on 27 February 2024. The Manchester and Liverpool gigs are two of 23 UK and Ireland dates they are playing:
8 February – Milton Keynes, MK 11
9 February – Tunbridge Wells, Forum
10 February – Portsmouth, The Wedgewood Rooms
14 February – Hull, The New Adelphi Club
15 February – York, The Fulford Arms
16 February – Sunderland, Independent
17 February – Cambridge, Portland Arms
20 February – Huddersfield, The Parish
21 February – Birmingham, The Sunflower Lounge
22 February – Brighton, Komedia
23 February – Bristol, Thekla
24 February – Guildford, Boileroom
27 February – Liverpool, Camp and Furnace
28 February – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
29 February – Manchester, Deaf Institute
1 March – London, Lafayette
6 March – St. Albans, The Horn
7 March – Dover, The Booking Hall
8 March – Golant, Bar Silo Cornwall
9 March – Falmouth, The Cornish Bank
11 March – Glasgow, King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut
12 March – Edinburgh, The Mash House
13 March – Dublin, The Grand Social
