GCN is giving one lucky reader a chance to win two tickets to see Kae Tempest perform in Vicar Street this May. The writer and musician announced the release of their new album, The Line Is A Curve earlier this week, and just today a series of tour dates across the UK and Ireland have been unveiled.
Tempest will perform at four Irish venues this spring, starting in Galway on April 30, then heading to Cork on May 1, followed by Belfast on May 3, and finishing in Dublin on May 4. Alongside this, they will play 16 dates across the UK. General release tickets go on sale on Friday, January 21, but if you pre-order The Line Is A Curve you will receive presale access on Wednesday, January 19.
I am going on tour! Been so long and I can't wait to be out there with you all again.. Here's the dates! If you've never seen a show or if you're been with me since the busking days, come be a part of it. It's new levels this time out. https://t.co/L4NlCRGcFZ pic.twitter.com/hKeE8LhwLo
— kae tempest (@kaetempest) January 14, 2022
Tour audiences can expect to hear tracks from their upcoming album, released on April 8, including the likes of ‘More Pressure’ which features BROCKHAMPTON’s Kevin Abstract. The record has been described as a “communicative” project, which features artwork shot by renowned photographer Wolfgang Tillmans.
Speaking on the upcoming release, Kae Tempest says: “The Line Is A Curve is about letting go. 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.”
On the cover art, Tempest explains: “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. 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 upfront, 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.”
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With four studio albums, and multiple other written projects already published, The Line Is A Curve is set to be another outstanding body of work from the English performer.
To win tickets to see Kae Tempest live in Vicar Street, simply answer the following question: What is the name of Kae Tempest’s upcoming album?
The competition closes on Wednesday, January 19, with winners to be announced the next day. Good luck!
This competition is now closed, please visit our Competitions page for more.
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