Stereophonics announce new album and Christmas concert

Stereophonics have announced a new album as they celebrate their 25th anniversary.

The Welsh rock band, who signed their record deal in 1996, have released the first track, titled Hanging On Your Hinges, from their forthcoming 12th album Oochya!, which will be released on March 4 2022.

They will also play a Christmas concert, called We’ll Keep A Welcome, at the Cardiff Principality Stadium, alongside special guests Tom Jones and Catfish And The Bottlemen, on December 18.

Stereophonics lead singer Kelly Jones said: “Hanging On Your Hinges was influenced by my love of early ZZ Top and darker stuff like Masters Of Reality and maybe some Iggy Pop too and probably nods back to Bartender & The Thief.

“It’s the song on this album that says Oochya! more than anything else, so it’s something we wanted the fans to hear first.

“Having done some really emotionally lead and introspective songs on the last album (Kind), we decided to come back with a bang this time, give the fans something to get a little loose to.

“The album title (Oochya!) was always a saying me and the band used in the studio to mean ‘let’s have it’, a blast of energy and optimism and that’s what we wanted to get across with Hinges.”

The Welsh rockers have also unveiled the album artwork for the new album which features a pop art style with bold colours, reminiscent of Roy Lichtenstein’s Whaam! painting.

Stereophonics will start an 11-date tour for the new album next year, starting in Manchester Arena on March 18.

Their previous album, Kind, beat Kanye West’s Jesus Is King to claim the top spot on the album charts in 2019.

They have claimed seven number one spots in the UK album charts and have sold 8.5 million albums in the UK alone.

In 1998 the band won a Brit Award for British breakthrough act and have received a further four Brit nominations since.