BIG SPECIAL RELEASE SURPRISE ALBUM
Copyright: Katie Anderson (Photo)
Black Country duo Big Special - Joe Hicklin (vocals) and Callum Moloney (drums) - have unveiled a surprise album titled NATIONAL AVERAGE today 4 July, via So Recordings. The new record is following up last year's acclaimed UK Top 40 debut album POSTINDUSTRIAL HOMETOWN BLUES and arrives after days of the band teasing projections of the album's artwork across London landmarks.
The band also shared a video for the new album's lead single 'GOD SAVE THE PONY', along with a big run of UK instore performances which begin tonight.
Commenting on the new single, lead singer Joe Hicklin says: "‘GOD SAVE THE PONY.’ Is about the stones we carry. The different things that pull people down; the invisible weights that they have to drag through their everyday. On the personal level, it’s about reckoning with change. Reflecting on the moral obligations we have to ourselves and others and the mixture of the failures and successes in sticking to those. The weight of following a personal moral line is heavy on everyone’s shoulders. The song is a recognition of this strain in ourselves and others, and a well wish to keep going, whatever you have that drags behind."
Continuing about the album, Hicklin says: "‘NATIONAL AVERAGE.’ Is an album about the multitudes of a normal life as it begins to change. It’s about the stages of reflection on an average life as it moves further away. It’s about personal and political problems remaining the same as a life changes around them and they all begin to weave together."
BIG SPECIAL - UK instore performances
04 Jul - Rough Trade East, London (Instore) - 7pm
05 Jul - Rough Trade, Bristol (Instore) - 1pm
06 Jul - Banquet, Kingston upon Thames (Instore) - 6pm
09 Jul - Eclipse Records, Walsall (Instore) - 1pm
14 Jul - Resident, Brighton (Instore) - 6.30pm
15 Jul - Rough Trade Nottingham (Instore) - 6pm
16 Jul - Rough Trade, Liverpool (Instore) - 7pm
BIG SPECIAL UK & Ireland 2026 headline tour dates
13 Feb – The Waterfront, Norwich, UK +
14 Feb – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, UK +
15 Feb – Digital, Newcastle, UK +
18 Feb – University Stylus, Leeds, UK +
19 Feb – SWG3 Warehouse, Glasgow, UK +
20 Feb – New Century Hall, Manchester, UK +
21 Feb – O2 Institute, Birmingham, UK +
24 Feb – Electric Bristol, Bristol, UK +
25 Feb – The 1865, Southampton, UK +
27 Feb – Roundhouse, London, UK ^ + △
06 Mar – The Workman’s Club, Dublin, IE
07 Mar – Ulster Sports Club, Belfast, UK
+ = Support from GANS
^ = Support from Liz Lawrence
△ = Support from Good Health Good Wealth
