Image by Sean Black.
Andy Bell has recently shared a new track, ‘Dance For Mercy’, the latest to be taken from his forthcoming solo album, Ten Crowns – set for release on May 2nd.
The album coincides with a spring 2025 tour – full details below – beginning on 1 May in York, coming to Bournemouth on 11 May, continuing through to Cambridge on 19 May (with a London show at Shepherd’s Bush Empire on 16 May), and followed by a run of European dates.
Support for the UK dates has been announced: in York, Birmingham and Manchester, Dave Audé (who produced and co-wrote the album) will open with a DJ set and for the rest of the dates, Hifi Sean & David McAlmont support.
Talking about the track, Andy explains, “Sometimes I wonder how many lives (God, or whatever you wanna call it) has given me: from heart attacks, to HIV, to being run over as a kid, nearly drowning in the sea and smashing over the handlebars of my bicycle into a brick wall! I have no idea why any of us are here, so it’s best just to have a bloody good dance!”
The new track follows the BBC Radio 2 playlisted single, ‘Don’t Cha Know’, and ‘Breaking Thru The Interstellar’, introductions to Ten Crowns – 10 tracks of dazzling, joyous pop, produced and polished in Nashville, inspired by the dancefloor and gospel.
No stranger to collaboration – his four decades of writing and recording with Vince Clarke as Erasure are still going strong and the duo recently began work on a new album together – Bell threw himself into writing with close friend Dave Audé, the Grammy award-winning producer, remixer and DJ. Their work together is euphoric, and to top the celebrations, they invited Andy’s ultimate pop heroine, Debbie Harry, to join Andy on vocals for ‘Hearts A Liar’.
Andy and Dave had previously collaborated on two US dance chart number ones together: 2014’s ‘Aftermath (Here We Go)’ and 2016’s ‘True Original’, and after those dance tracks, the pair “just kind of carried on writing as an exercise”, Andy explains, “and after that, Dave moved his family to Nashville because LA was so expensive, and so our writing took this kind of gospel-tinged Nashville twist.”
He describes how in Nashville there’s a church on every corner (“it reminded me of singing in choirs and cathedral school as a child, where the spirit of the church is imbued in the music”). Not that Ten Crowns is a sombre, spiritual set. It’s propulsive, electronic, passionate, driven by the need to encounter new emotions and experiences as life races on. “I mean, I’ve got everything I could possibly wish for, you know, I really have, but that’s not to say I’m always fulfilled,” Andy adds. “This album’s about picking yourself up, dusting yourself off, embracing life – and about taking that feeling on even when you’re fighting demons in the world, like homophobia, and fighting demons in yourself. It’s about being celebratory and uplifting.”
Andy Bell Live Tour
1 May – York (UK), Barbican
2 May – Birmingham (UK), Symphony Hall
3 May – Manchester (UK), Bridgewater Hall
6 May – Glasgow (UK), Royal Concert Hall
7 May – Aberdeen (UK), Music Hall
8 May – Gateshead (UK), Glasshouse
11 May – Bournemouth (UK), Pavilion
12 May – Guildford (UK), G-Live
13 May – Bath (UK), Forum
16 May – London (UK), Shepherd’s Bush Empire
17 May – Llandrindod Wells (UK), The Albert Hall
18 May – Liverpool (UK), Philharmonic
19 May – Cambridge (UK), Corn Exchange
12 June – Frankfurt (DE), Batschkapp
13 June – Hamburg (DE), Markthalle
15 June – Berlin (DE), Columbia Theater
16 June – Koln (DE), Gloria
18 June – Leipzig (DE), Anker
19 June – Bremen (DE), Modernes
21 June – Holstebro (DK), Summer Sounds Festival
Tickets for all shows are on-sale now here
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