Tears For Fears will play two intimate gigs at Pryzm in Kingston ahead of their headline performance at BBC Radio 2 in the Park.
Having previously been postponed after Curt Smith suffered a rib injury during their UK run of shows last year, the duo will return to the stage on September 14 for the shows.
“We thank you for your patience as we found a new date and we’re ecstatic to be returning for these shows,” they tweeted.
Ticketholders will receive emails with more details about the new dates.
The intimate performances come two days ahead of their spot at Leicester’s Victoria Park – where they feature on a line-up including Kylie Minogue, Soft Cell, Bananarama and others – with the pair releasing Rivers Of Mercy as the latest single from ‘The Tipping Point’ – their first LP in 17 years – to celebrate their UK return.
“We had an incredible piece of music that evoked peace and also images of the sea or a river,” says Roland Orzabal. “And it felt strange because during Lockdown #1, I was in the West Country of England, and it was beautiful. Then you turn on the TV or your computer and there is absolute chaos.
“The narrator in Rivers Of Mercy is a person almost desperate to go back to a time when this chaos isn’t happening.
“This song has that idea of redemption through the river, like in Take Me To The River – that notion of redemption or baptism. That’s probably my favourite song on the whole album.”
Curt Smith adds: Sometimes people question the running order of an album. “To have Rivers Of Mercy” – this beautiful breath of serenity – coming right after the intensity of My Demons makes it all the more powerful.”
Last year, Tears For Fears returned to the Top 10 of the UK charts with ‘The Tipping Point’, with Curt telling RETROPOP the project was a challenge for him and Roland to navigate.
“We got to the point a few years ago where I certainly wasn’t happy with what we were doing,” he admitted. “Myself and Roland sat down and I said, ‘Look, if this is what you want to do, then you go ahead and do it, but it’s not for me.’ That ended and we didn’t know what we were going to do. It was sort of up in the air.”
He continued: “Roland said, ‘Look, let’s sit down and talk about this. What do you feel?’ And I said, ‘I think we have some good songs. But I just think that the recordings really aren’t right. They don’t sound like Tears for Fears – they sound like us trying to be someone else’.
“I think he’d come to the same realisation, having taken time away from it… So we sat down and plotted a path forward of how we could finish an album that we were both happy with.”
In a review of the album, RETROPOP said ‘The Tipping Point’ “feeds into the history of the band, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, referencing the pair’s journey to create the record along with key musical moments from their storied career.”
The Tipping Point’ is out now.
READ MORE: Tears For Fears: ‘New album ‘The Tipping Point’ almost pushed us over the edge’
