Huge UK rock band announces comeback album and tour after six years

Snow Patrol have finally released new music (Picture: Xavi Torrent/Redferns)

Snow Patrol have come out of hibernation and announced a brand new album and tour to the delight of fans.

For the first time in six years, Chasing Cars hitmakers Gary Lightbody, Nathan Connolly, and Johnny McDaid have reunited and recorded fresh music.

The group is now a trio after drummer Jonny Quinn and bassist Paul Wilson’s departures in September last year.

Finally, after months of tearing, Snow Patrol have released The Beginning — the lead single off their upcoming album The Forest Is The Path.

Along with the new music comes a UK and Ireland tour announcement from the Scottish group, which will start in 2025.

‘The first day we wrote The Beginning, start to finish,’ revealed Gary, who is the only remaining original band member.

It’s been six years since the band’s last release Wildness (Picture: Joe Maher/Disasters Emergency Committee/Getty Images for Livewire Pictures Ltd)

Two members have left the group; Jonny Quinn and Paul Wilson (Picture: Press Eye Ltd/REX/Shutterstock)

‘And he did the vocal in one take,’ Johnny added. ‘Straight after writing the lyrics.

‘So it has this mind-collapsing quality to it where you feel like you’re seeing into someone’s soul.’

Snow Patrol originally started in the early 90s but saw huge success in 2006 with the hit album Eyes Open, featuring Chasing Cars.

Despite never reaching number one in the charts, the track remains the UK’s 26th most downloaded song of all time and was named the most-played song of the 21st century so far.

Due for release on September 13, the new album serves as a follow-up to 2018’s Wildness and is produced by the band and Fraser T Smith, who has worked with Adele and Stormzy previously.

A statement about the upcoming album, which features 12 tracks, called it ‘an album rooted in reflection, introspection and interrogation’.

Gary explained some inspiration comes from being a decade on from the end of a relationship and still feeling the fading love he had in the background.

He shared: ‘I haven’t been in a relationship for a very long time, 10 years or more, so love from a distance to me meant the way a relationship sits in your memory from a distance of, say, 10 years.

‘That’s not something I’d previously thought about as a way to write about love. So it’s like, when you’re in love, you’re standing in the lobby of the Empire State Building. When you’ve broken up with that person, you’re out in the street.

‘You can still see the building, but you’re not in there anymore. And when it’s 10 years later, now you’re standing in Brooklyn looking at the Manhattan skyline.’

Snow Patrol will also embark on a UK and Ireland tour next year (Picture: Roberto Ricciuti/Redferns)

This is a consistent theme throughout The Forest Is The Path, cropping up in numerous tracks.

‘That’s kind of a summing up of this album,’ Gary added. ‘It’s a way of looking at various mistakes, any pain I may have caused, from a place where nothing is hurting anymore, except the memory when you pull it back into your mind.

‘The memory itself is full of hurt but everything around it isn’t. You’re holding in your hand this ball of fire, but now you’ve got gloves on.’

Snow Patrol are set to play eight shows as part of their arena run, including The O2 in London on February 15, 2025.

Keen fans who pre-order The Forest Is The Path from Snow Patrol’s store will get access to tour pre-sale.

Anyone hoping to get their hands on tickets need not wait long as they go on pre-sale on June 5 at 10am and general sale on June 7 at 10am.

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