Ben Folds has announced that he will release new album ‘What Matters Most’ this summer, and will also be in the UK and Ireland for live shows in the autumn.
“There’s a lifetime of craft and experience all focused into this one record”, he says. “Sonically, lyrically, emotionally, I don’t think it’s an album I could have made at any other point in my career”.
“I come from the vinyl era, and this perhaps more than any record I’ve made is a true album”, he adds. “There’s a very specific sequence and arc to each side, all building up to this almost surreal positive finale, and that structure was really important to me”.
“More than anything, I wanted to make an album that was generous, that was useful”, he concludes. “I want you to finish this record with something you didn’t have when you started”.
His first album since 2015, ‘What Matters Most’ is out on 2 Jun and also features Dodie, Tall Heights, Ruby Amanfu and the US National Symphony Orchestra. Available now is first single ‘Winslow Gardens’:
Folds will then be touring the UK and Ireland in November. Here are the dates:
8 Nov: Bath, The Forum
9 Nov: Brighton, Dome
10 Nov: Birmingham, Symphony Hall
12 Nov: Oxford, New Theatre
13 Nov: London, Royal Albert Hall
15 Nov: Gateshead, Sage
16 Nov: York, Grand Opera House
17 Nov: Manchester, Apollo
18 Nov: Edinburgh, Usher Hall
20 Nov: Dublin, The Helix