Writer and musician Kae Tempest announced their new album, The Line Is A Curve earlier this week, unveiing new single 'More Pressure' with BROCKHAMPTON's Kevin Abstract.

With the LP arriving on 8th April 2022 via Fiction Records, Tempest has today announced an extensive UK and Ireland tour this Spring, with four Irish dates on the bill.

The 20-date tour kicks off in Manchester on 22 April and sees Kae perform in Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin, Birmingham, Cardiff, Sheffield and London before closing the tour in Gateshead on 21st May.

Tempest will perform at Galway's Roisín Dubh on April 30, alongside Cork's Cyprus Avenue, Vicar Street Dublin and Cathedral Quarter Festival, Belfast on May 1st, 3rd and 4th respectively.

After the experience of touring previous album The Book of Traps and Lessons, Tempest realised that they wanted The Line Is A Curve to be a communicative record. The concept manifested itself both in the contributions of other artists, such as Kevin Abstract, Grian Chatten of Fontaines D.C., Lianne La Havas, ássia and Confucius MC.

During the recording process, Tempest decided to do three vocal takes in one day to three different generations of people; "a man of 78 who I'd never met, a woman of 29, the poet Bridget Minamore, who is a good friend of mine and then to three young fans of 12, 15 and 16 who had responded to a social media post."

The beautiful album features artwork shot by renowned photographer Wolfgang Tillmans.

"The Line Is A Curve is about letting go," Kae Tempest elaborates. "Of shame, anxiety, isolation and falling instead into surrender. Embracing the cyclical nature of time, growth, love. This letting go can hopefully be felt across the record. In the musicality, the instrumentation, the lyricism, the delivery, the cover art. In the way it ends where it begins and begins where it ends."

"I knew I wanted my face on the sleeve. Throughout the duration of my creative life, I have been hungry for the spotlight and desperately uncomfortable in it," the artist continues. "For the last couple of records I wanted to disappear completely from the album covers, the videos, the front-facing aspects of this industry. A lot of that was about my shame but I masked it behind a genuine desire for my work to speak for itself, without me up front, commodifying what felt so rare to me and sacred."

"I was, at times, annoyed that in order to put the work out, I had to put myself out. But this time around, I understand it differently. I want people to feel welcomed into this record, by me, the person who made it, and I have let go of some of my airier concerns. I feel more grounded in what I'm trying to do, who I am as an artist and as a person and what I have to offer. I feel less shame in my body because I am not hiding from the world anymore. I wanted to show my face and I dreamed of it being Wolfgang Tillmans who took the portrait."

With four studio albums, a novel, their first work of non-fiction (On Connection), three plays and five collections of poetry to their name, Kae Tempest has firmly established themselves as one of the most unique, thought-provoking and critically-acclaimed voices of their generation.

Tickets to see Kae Tempest live go on sale at 10am on Friday 21 January via this link.

Pre-order The Line Is A Curve here and check out the full list of shows below.

UK & IRELAND TOUR DATES

April

22nd- Albert Hall, Manchester

23rd- Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh

24th-SWG3 Galvanizers, Glasgow

26th- Corn Exchange, Cambridge

27th-De La Warr Pavillion, Bexhill

28th -The Dome, Brighton

30th - Roisn Dubh, Galway

May

1st- Cyprus Avenue, Cork

3rd- Cathedral Quarter Festival, Belfast

4th- Vicar Street, Dublin

6th-Marble Factory, Bristol

8th- Grand Central Hall, Liverpool

10th-Town Hall, Birmingham

11th- Stylus, Leeds

12th- Asylum, Hull

14th- St. David's Hall, Cardiff

15th- The Octagon Centre, Sheffield

16th-O2 Academy, Leicester

18th- Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

21st- Sage, Gateshead