Patrick Wolf has announced his new album ‘Crying The Neck’ and has shared the mystical new single ‘Dies Irae’.
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The anthemic ‘Dies Irae’ features a whirlwind of mystical sounds as Wolf sings: “The night is yet to fall (oooh) / Not yet your funeral (oooh) / And while we’re alive, alive, alive, alive (oooh) / What can I do to help (oooh) /You hold back tomorrow,” describing an “affirmation of life”.
The song’s title originates from the Latin Requiem Mass and translates to “the day of wrath” and part of the track’s string arrangement is based on a Latin-mass Medieval Gregorian chant of the same title.
Speaking about the track in a press release, Wolf shared that the song was created as a response of “the day of separation from the living,” viewing it as a “an affirmation of life in the last days of knowing you are about to lose someone you love, and a courageous – almost rebellious – choice against the misery to use the time remaining to deepen your love or joy with each other.”
He continued, explaining that he wrote the song “to give myself another day I didn’t have with my mother during her rapid descent in illness.” He also explained that ‘Dies Irae’ completed the arc of the LP, saying: “I finished the lyrics as an imaginary last conversation with my mother in her art studio and out to the garden as the evening falls. My sister Jo Apps came in the last days of mixing to sing the backing vocals, and in a way, it meant that we could both share a last dance in the kitchen with our ma together.”
‘Dies Irae’ serves as the first taster of Wolf’s forthcoming seventh album ‘Crying The Neck’ which is set for release on April 25 via Apport/Virgin Music and is available to pre-order here. The album marks his first LP in 13 years, following on from 2012’s ‘Sundark And Riverlight’.
The album features contributions from the likes of Zola Jesus, Jarvis Cocker collaborator Serafina Steer, Polar Ber leader Seb Rochford and Jo Apps. ‘Crying The Neck’ serves as the first instalment of Wolf’s planned four-album series. The LP was written and recorded by Wolf at his home studio in Ramsgate. It sees him play a plethora of instruments such as the viola, Appalachian dulcimer, baritone ukulele, kantale and Atari.
Patrick Wolf’s ‘Crying The Neck’ track list is:
1. ‘Reculver’
2. ‘Limbo’ (ft. Zola Jesus)
3. ‘The Last Of England’
4. ‘Jupiter’
5. ‘On Your Side’
6. ‘Oozlum’
7. ‘Dies Irae’
8. ‘The Curfew Bell’
9. ‘Lughnasa’ (ft. Serafina Steer)
10. ‘Song Of The Scythe’
11. ‘Better Or Worse’
12. ‘Hymn Of The Haar’
13. ‘Foreland’
Elsewhere, Wolf has also announced a 2025 UK and European tour which is set to kick off on May 8 at Manchester’s Gorilla. From there, the musician will make his way across the UK with stops in Glasgow, Leeds, London and Bristol before making his way to Europe. While in Europe, Wolf will make stops in Cologne, Berlin, Warsaw, Paris, Milan and more. The tour will wrap up on June 6 at Vienna’s Theater Akzent.
General ticket sales will commence on Friday (February 7) at 10am GMT. Check out a full list of tour dates below and visit here to purchase tickets.
Patrick Wolf 2025 UK and European tour dates are:
MAY
8 – Manchester – Gorilla
10 – Gateshead – The Glasshouse
11 – Glasgow – St Luke’s
13 – Leeds – Brudenell Social Club
15 – London – HERE at Outernet
16 – Bristol – The Lantern
20 – Cologne – Gebaude 9
21 – Hamburg – Grunspan
22 – Leipzig – UT Connewitz
23 – Berlin – Heimathafen
24 – Warsaw – Niebo
26 – Ghent – Club Wintercircus
27 – Amerstam – Tolhuistuin
28 – Paris – Trabendo
29 – Zurich – Dynamo
31– Milan – Santeria Toscana 31
JUNE
1 – Bologna – Locomotiv
3 – Munich – Ampere
4 – Prague – Lucerna Music Bar
6 – Vienna – Theater Akzent
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