Belfast-based singer-songwriter Joshua Burnside has announced his new album, Teeth of Time, out February 28. He has also shared his latest double A-side, ‘Ghost of the Bloomfield Road / Good For One Thing’.

The musician has also released dates for his European and UK tour next year.

‘Ghost of the Bloomfield Road’ follows the artist as he wanders the streets following the birth of his son. Feeling the weight of powerlessness, with his baby at home, he roams the streets of East Belfast, downcast.

‘Good For One Thing’ is an imagined tale of a circus performer, a young man whose worth is determined by his ability to pay bills, to entertain and amuse. The track reflects Burnside’s own anxieties surrounding being a new father.

On the album, Burnside states, “This feels like my happiest family of songs to date. Or the most joy-filled ones anyway… which isn’t much of a boast. This album was written against the background of my becoming a father for the first time, and of my family growing alongside my wife Emily.

“And, alongside that joy, comes a lot of fear and anxiety, both of which are also pretty prevalent throughout this album. The songs were written between Belfast and Comber, Donegal and Paris, and recorded in my unsound-proof studio in Belfast city centre.

So the sounds and life of the city and countryside, alongside that of my son, are all key parts and drivers of the tracks on this record.”

He further explains, “This album is about growing older, becoming a dad, getting by and making do. It’s about change and changeless mountains that silently watch as our short lives pass, ice sheets melt, loughs die and stars vanish.

“It’s about the haves and have-nots, the lucky and the damned. It’s about being stuck in traffic with a hangover, and doom scrolling at 3am.

"It’s about trees as gods in the imagination of a child, about lands divided, and never-ending wars fought under the banner of capitalism. It’s about Belfast, the north and about saying f*ck that to those that would divide us. It is about losing the ones we love and carrying on.”

Tracklist:
Teeth of Time: Mountain
Up and Down
The Good Life
Sycamore Queen
Ghost of the Bloomfield Road
Climb the Tower
Marching Round the Ladies
In the Silence of
Good For One Thing
Woven
Nothing Completed

Live dates:
Thu 27 Feb - Edinburgh, The Caves
Fri 28 Feb - Aberdeen, The Tunnels
Sat 1 Mar - Newcastle, The Grove
Sun 2 Mar – Stroud, Prince Albert
Tue 4 Mar – Deal, The Lighthouse
Wed 5 Mar - Brighton, Hope & Ruin
Thu 6 Mar - Southbourne, The Wight Bear
Fri 7 Mar - Bristol, Fyfe Hall
Sat 8 Mar - Leeds, Hyde Park Book Club
Sun 9 Mar – Birkenhead,
Tue 11 Mar – London, Islington Assembly Hall
Wed 12 Mar - Birmingham, Hare & Hounds
Thu 13 Mar - Cardiff, The Gate
Fri 14 Mar – Newport, Carnigli Nights Out
Sat 15 Mar – Manchester , YES Basement
Wed 26 Mar – Kilkenny, Cleere’s Bar & Theatre
Thu 27 Mar – Clonakilty, DeBarra’s
Fri 28 Mar – Kinsale, Catherine’s Cultural Centre
Sat 29 Mar – Dingle, The Green Room
Sun 30 Mar – Tralee, Tobar Naofa
Tue 1 Apr – Strandhill, Sligo Brees
Wed 2 Apr – Galway, Roisin Dubh
Thu 3 Apr - Dublin, Whelans
Sat 5 Apr - Belfast, Ulster Hall
Further EU dates to follow…