Ist Ist | Network 2

Last month, IST IST announced their fifth full-length studio album ‘DAGGER’. Set for release on 6th February next year, the new record arrives on the heels of last year’s acclaimed top 30 ‘Light a Bigger Fire’. The band have now announced their plans to take the album out on tour next spring with a run of shows across the UK.

Ahead of their huge homecoming show at Manchester Albert Hall in May, IST IST will spend April on the road, kicking things off at The Waterfront in Norwich on 9th April. From there, the band will play at the O2 Academy2 in Oxford, The Grove in Newcastle, Bristol’s cargo ship turned venue Thekla and more. The full list of dates can be found below.

Speaking about the tour, bassist Andy Keating shared, "Taking 'DAGGER' on the road is something we've been building up to for a long time, even before we'd finished recording and named it. Our ambition with this album was to create songs primarily suited to the live environment, ones that would excite us to play live and we're sure our love for them is being passed on to the crowds. We've been playing a handful each night on our recent European run and they're being greeted with the same enthusiasm as our older tracks.”

“The tour is going to be our most extensive yet,” he continued, “and even a decade in it's cool to be playing places such as Oxford and Exeter for the first time. Then of course the big homecoming show in Manchester. There'll be a lot of memorable nights for sure." The tour will be made all the more memorable by support band The Youth Play, the next generation’s favourite British band who will be joining IST IST for all dates.

Led by Mexico City-born Diego Bracho, The Youth Play stand proudly as a testament to the importance of multiculturalism, particularly in British music. His songwriting draws from shoegaze pioneers such as Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine, while his lyrics tackle migration, reinvention and resistance. Fresh off a European tour with Been Stellar, the band will share the stage with IST IST next spring.