Lankum have today shared their new song, 'The Wild Rover', as well as announcing their new album The Livelong Day, ahead of a national and European tour this autumn.

Speaking about their haunting version of 'The Wild Rover', and the very different interpretation that they took, the band said: “this particular version of 'The Wild Rover' was first heard from the singing of Dónal Maguire, who in turn got it from fellow Drogheda man Pat Usher, and the recording was subsequently released on an album entitled The Usher Family in 1974. There are countless renditions of this tune, it is a song very much rooted within the dirt and peat of Ireland, but the revelation of a little known final verse takes it from a jovial pub tale to one of sadness and destitution.The actual crux of the song becomes desperate, a matter of life or death.”

Director Ellius Grace explains the thinking behind the video; “I wanted to visualise the mythical Irish landscape in the video, to respond to the feeling of ancient Ireland that the track conveys so strongly. The video is an ominous journey through a landscape that is coming alive, a dark trip into the mythical unknown. Void of people and living things, the flora begins to take over, morphing and stretching our view as we travel. I took inspiration from folk horror. Rocks and textures stretch and flex at first imperceptibly, and then get out of control and take over. For colour grading, I looked to classic depictions and paintings of the Irish landscape. I wanted to channel these very deliberate visions of the countryside as a place of both beauty and darkly storied unknown, steeped in our nation’s folklore.”

The Livelong Day will be released via Rough Trade Records on October 25. Lankum have also announced a new 2020 date at Vicar Street for January 4. See the full track list and tour dates below:

1.The Wild Rover
2.The Young People
3.Ode To Lullaby
4.Bear Creek
5.Katie Cruel
6.The Dark Eyed Gypsy
7.The Pride Of Petravore
8.Hunting The Wren

Upcoming Lankum tour dates:

Forthcoming Tour Dates:
Oct 18 - Dolans Warehouse, Limerick
Oct 19 - Roisin Dubh, Galway
Oct 24 - Empire Music Hall, Belfast
Oct 25 - Vicar Street, Dublin - SOLD OUT
Nov 13 - Bullingdon Arms, Oxford
Nov 14 - Brudenell, Leeds
Nov 16 - Stereo, Glasgow
Nov 17 - Band On The Wall, Manchester
Nov 18 - Fiddlers, Bristol
Nov 19t - Komedia, Brighton
Nov 20 - Hare & Hounds, Birminghaam
Nov 21 - Tufnell Park Dome, London
Nov 26 - Merleyn, Nijmegen
Nov 27 - Paradiso, Amsterdam
Nov 29 - Alice, Copenhagen
Nov 30 - Muziekpublique, Brussels

First 2020 date announced today:
Jan 4 - Vicar Street, Dublin