Reverend and The Makers and The Futureheads today announced the cancellation of their 2021 Propaganda Live tour. The 14-date tour had been scheduled for next March and April, with the two bands forming a triple-bill with London fourpiece The Holloways.
A statement released on Reverend and the Makers’ social media channels today said “Sorry to announce that the Propaganda Tour has unfortunately had to be cancelled due to Covid. We were really looking forward to getting back out on the road, but we’re sure we’ll be able to bounce with you all again before too long.”
A similar statement appeared on The Futureheads’ Twitter feed, with the band saying of the cancellation: “This is as frustrating for us as it will be for those of you with tickets – refunds are available at the point of purchase. We will be back somewhere, somehow in 2021, mark our words!”
— The Futureheads (@thefutureheads) December 3, 2020
The Futureheads burst onto the scene in the mid-noughties with a sound that fused Wearside passion with an New York art-rock feel. They would go on to produce two of that decade’s most memorable indie disco numbers in the energetic call-and-response slammer Decent Days And Nights, and their superb cover of the Kate Bush classic Hounds of Love.
Their sixth and latest album, 2019’s Powers, was their first after a seven-year hiatus. The record was warmly received by critics, with The Guardian labelling it “a welcome return for a singular and important band.”
As has been the case for so many acts, The Futureheads’ year has been marred by the regular need to reschedule or postpone live commitments. The Sunderland outfit will hope for better times ahead in 2021, when they are due to appear at the rescheduled Kubix Festival in their home city’s Herrington Park. The July 3rd extravaganza will also include sets from folk-rockers The Levellers, Belfast punk veterans Stiff Little Fingers, and Bradford’s New Model Army amongst others.
Pleased to be playing the rescheduled @Kubix_Festival in our own back yard next July!
Tickets available at https://t.co/uuAj6sEey9 pic.twitter.com/HfjqRI6DP4— The Futureheads (@thefutureheads) September 1, 2020
Members of Reverend and the Makers, who released their Best Of album last year, have also been keeping busy through the tedium and frustration of 2020. Frontman John McClure delighted fans in lockdown with two socially-distant family collaborations earlier this year. In April the singer teamed up with his mother Cheryl for a sassy, Yorkshire twist on Amy Winehouse’s You Know I’m No Good before joining forces with his cousin Lauren – an NHS worker – for a moving rendition of the Bob Dylan/Adele favourite Make You Feel My Love.
Meanwhile the Sheffield band’s guitarist Ed Cosens has been at work on his debut solo album Fortunes Favour, which is due to hit shelves in January. In a recent interview with The Star newspaper, he spoke about how his (and the group’s) Steel City roots remained an important artistic influence.
Cosens said “I am Sheffield born and bred and the vibe of the city plays a big part in music for all of us in the band and our generation growing up, with the history with the electronic of the 80’s, and the rich musical history, and the mid-noughties was an amazing time to be about. I think Sheffield, and the make up of the city, with the Peak District on its doorstep, is an inspiring place to be. You draw on that and the whole Mesters thing, with the Steel industry, these guys doing their thing and coming together to make a whole industry, that is what Sheffield is like.”
The latest single from Cosens’ upcoming album, the sweetly melodic The River, is out now. A new video for the song premieres on YouTube this evening.
