The Lounge Society have announced a run of UK tour dates including a gig at Manchester’s The Castle.

The band will also perform at Manchester’s Fair Play Festival just a few weeks prior to the tour.

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The announcement comes as the band today reveal their latest single Burn The Heather, debuted by Lauren Laverne.

The Lounge Society hail from in and around the Pennine towns of Hebden Bridge and Todmorden.  Burn The Heather takes its title from the annual local ritual burning of the moor-top heather by the rich rural landowners for their grouse-shoots.  The single strikes a personal chord from the band as they explain, “Burn the Heather is a song deeply rooted in where we come from. The lyrics are our interpretation of some of the darker aspects of where we live, and our personal reaction to them. Musically, Burn the Heather is intended to be an adrenaline shot to the brain. We wanted this to be the second single all along. We don’t want to be just another post-punk band, and we knew Heather would keep people on their toes. Unlike a lot of our tracks, the guitars are quite minimal and the rhythm really carries it, and we think it works really well. We want to make people move.”

Meanwhile the video’s director Nick Farrimond adds, “Born from the sense of injustice surrounding irresponsible land owners who clear heather from the moorland for grouse hunting, (resulting in increased flood risks below in the valley where we all live) we decided to portray caricatured versions of grouse hunters, dressed head to toe in tweed and showing total disregard for the landscape and devoid of any values, morals or ethics. The band play the parts of grouse, making their way across the moors, dressed in fetching red boiler suits and unaware of the impending danger they face. What ensues is general carnage as the grouse are hunted one by one, each meeting a grizzly, untimely end…or do they? You’ll have to watch the video to find out.”

When do The Lounge Society headline at Manchester’s The Castle?

The Lounge Society headline at The Castle Manchester on 21 May 2021.  The Manchester gig is one a string of dates they have announced for the Spring and Summer, opening with Manchester festival Fair Play Festival:

3 April   –   Manchester, Fair Play Festival
30 April   –   Newcastle, Newcastle University SU (supporting The Orielles)
1 May   –   Edinburgh, Stag & Dagger
12 May   –   London, The Windmill
15 May   –   Margate, Tom Thumb Theatre
16 May   –   Southampton, Heartbreakers
17 May   –   Birmingham, Hare & Hounds 2 (supporting bdrmm)
19 May   –   Bristol, Crofters Rights
20 May   –   Sheffield, Sidney & Matilda
21 May   –   Manchester, Castle Hotel
22 May   –   York, A Slow Education Festival
2 July   –   Hebden Bridge, The Trades Club

Manchester gigs – The Lounge Society – image courtesy Piran Aston