Lankum have announced a new record today, False Lankum, out March 24, 2023 on Rough Trade Records (Black Midi, Gilla Band). Ahead of the album’s arrival, The band are sharing the first single “Go Dig My Grave” with a video by Peadar Gill.

‘Go Dig My Grave’ was discovered by Lankum’s Radie Peat who learned the particular version on the album from the singing of Jean Ritchie, who recorded it in 1963 on the album Jean Ritchie and Doc Watson at Folk City. It is a member of a family of songs which seem to be largely made up of what are known as ‘floating verses’, originally composed as stanzas of various different ballads, some of which date back as far as the 17th century. “’Our interpretation of the traditional song Go Dig My Grave is one that centres around the emotion of grief – all-consuming, unbearable and absolute” explain Lankum, “A visceral physical reaction to something that the body and mind are almost incapable of processing. The second part of the song is inspired by the Irish tradition of keening (from the Irish caoineadh) – a traditional form of lament for the deceased. Regarded by some as opening up ‘perilous channels of communication with the dead’, the practice came under severe censure from the catholic church in Ireland from the 17th century on.”

Dublin’s Lankum planned for False Lankum, their fourth record and third for Rough Trade, to feel like a complete piece – a progression and a journey for the listener. “We wanted to create more contrast on the record so the light parts would be almost spiritual and the dark parts would be incredibly dark, even horror inducing,” they explain. The album’s 12 tracks, composed of 10 traditional songs and two originals, show the four-piece using a new palate to colour their sound in an increasingly experimental way, alongside longtime producer John ‘Spud’ Murphy. Following on from their sold out show at The Barbican on May 4th 2023, Lankum will return to London in December 2023 to play The Roundhouse – their biggest headline gig to date. With their April/May tour almost completely sold out, the band will return to Amsterdam and Berlin in November 2023 and have announced their first German tour.

Lankum
False Lankum
Tracklist
Rough Trade Records

01) Go Dig My Grave
02) Clear Away In the Morning
03) Fugue I
04) Master Crowley’s
05) Newcastle
06) Fugue II
07) Netta Perseus
08) The New York Trader
09) Lord Abore and Mary Flynn
10) Fugue III
11) On a Monday Morning
12) The Turn

Lankum 2023 Tour Dates

APRIL

25 – Silent Green, Berlin, Germany – sold out
28 – Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam, Netherlands– sold out
30 – Le Botanique, Brussels, Belgium

MAY

2 – Petit Bain, Paris, France
4 – London, Barbican, London, UK – sold out
10 – St Lukes, Glasgow, UK – sold out
11 – Band on the Wall, Manchester, UK – sold out

18 – SWX, Bristol, UK
19 – Mandela Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland*
20 – Cork Opera House, Cork, Ireland*
30 – Vicar St, Dublin, Ireland*

31 – Vicar St, Dublin, Ireland*

JUNE

28 – Pop Messe, Brno, Czech Republic

JULY

4 – All Together Now Festival, Co Waterford, Ireland

NOVEMBER

17 – Manufaktur, Schorndorf, Germany*
19 – Transcentury Update Festival, Leipzig, Germany*

22 – Lido, Berlin, Germany*
23 – Stadtgarten, Köln, Germany*
26 – Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands*

DECEMBER

13 – The Roundhouse, London, UK*

Pre-order False Lankum by Lankum HERE