The Specials extend 2019 UK tour to celebrate new album ‘Encore’

Terry Hall, Lynval Golding and Horace Panter will share new music next year

The Specials have announced a brand new album for next year titled ‘Encore’ – and they’ll celebrate the release with a huge 2019 UK tour.

Terry Hall, Lynval Golding and Horace Panter will release the new LP on February 1, 2019. Drummer Kenrick Rowe and Ocean Colour Scene guitarist Steve Cradock, who has toured with the band a few times, will also feature on the record.

As well as new material, ‘Encore’ will also include a cover of The Equals’ ‘Black Skinned Blue-Eyed Boys’ and a version of ‘Blam Blam Fever’. The album will also include a second disc, titled ‘The Best of The Specials Live’. You can see the tracklist for ‘Encore’ below.

Black Skinned Blue-Eyed Boys
B.L.M.
Vote For Me
The Lunatics
Breaking Point
Blam Blam Fever
10 Commandments
Embarrassed By You
The Life And Times (Of A Man Called Depression)
We Sell Hope

In addition to the new album, The Specials have also announced a UK tour for April and May 2019.

The tour will kick off in Bournemouth on April 15, and will culminate with two massive shows at London’s O2 Academy Brixton (a second has just been announced today, November 2) on May 16-17. The jaunt will also celebrate 40 years since The Specials formed.

Tickets are now on sale here – check out the dates in full below.

April 2019
15 – BOURNEMOUTH O2 Academy Bournemouth
16 – PORTSMOUTH Guildhall
17 – BRIGHTON Dome
19 – PLYMOUTH Pavilions
20 – EXETER University Great Hall
21 – CARDIFF University Great Hall
23 – BLACKBURN King Georges Hall
24 – LEICESTER De Montfort Hall
26 – BIRMINGHAM O2 Academy Birmingham
27 – LIVERPOOL Eventim Olympia
28 – MANCHESTER Academy
30 – LEEDS O2 Academy Leeds

May 2019
1 – CARLISLE Sands Centre
2 – GLASGOW Barrowland
4 – NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE O2 Academy Newcastle
5 – MIDDLESBROUGH Town Hall
6 – SCARBOROUGH Spa
8 – SCUNTHORPE Baths Hall
9 – YORK Barbican
10 – SHEFFIELD O2 Academy Sheffield
12 – CAMBRIDGE Corn Exchange
13 – SOUTHEND Cliffs Pavilion
14 – MARGATE Winter Gardens
16 – LONDON O2 Academy Brixton
17 – LONDON O2 Academy Brixton **New Date**

Last month, a man was arrested on suspicion of murdering the grandson of The Specials’ former singer Neville Staple.

Fidel Glasgow, 21, was fatally stabbed during an altercation in the early hours of September 1, near Coventry’s Club M nightclub. He died in hospital 12 hours later.