Album artwork by OneDrinPen's Ninety

We are currently finalising the artwork for the forthcoming release of our Liberation LP. The cover and sleeve art are being designed by Ninety at OneDrinPen, using images from a wintry, sunrise shoot with our old friend James Honey in south London's Crystal Palace park late last year. We're very lucky to be able to count on such talented characters to help us with everything - you can check out the cover of the album below. We love the results so far and hope you do too. Expect an update when it is all complete.

Collaboration with former Feather: Hiatus

I am very excited to let you know about my latest creative adventure with old friend and former Smoke Feathers keyboard dynamo Cyrus Shahrad, contributing vocals, lyrics and melody for his spellbinding and critically-acclaimed Hiatus project. We have been working on three new tracks together for an EP which will be released in the near future. The vocals were recorded this week at the magical Vale Studios in Worcestershire, where we laid down the forthcoming Smoke Feathers album, Liberation. Cyrus will now work his magic back in his south London studio to pull it all together. It's sounding very strong so far and it's a real treat to be making some music with Cyrus again - our first musical expedition since the summer. It feels like many lives have passed since we first started jamming Gentle Flame in a tiny, damp room, deep below our university residence, with the explosive Chris Lund smashing the skins. Needless to say, the situations have changed and the sounds have evolved, but the musical bond remains as inspiring as ever and an honour to be a part of. If you haven't checked out Cyrus's beautiful Hiatus album Ghost Notes, now is the time to discover it.

Belong EP set for official release on Feb 27

We plan to release the Belong EP on Monday, February 27, featuring three songs from our debut album Liberation. The EP will include South America, Liberation Theology and We Will Maintain. For those of you who didn't get a chance to tune in, you can hear us performing a live acoustic version of South America in session on Robert Elms' BBC Radio London show here. You can download Liberation Theology for free for a limited time by liking our Facebook page here and you can hear Janice Long giving the track a spin on her BBC Radio 2 show here. The EP artwork has been designed by the awesome Ninety at OneDrinPen, using an old photograph of ours of the magnificent Essequibo river in Guyana, on the north coast of South America.

Another play from Janice Long on Radio 2

The lovely Janice Long dedicated a few minutes on her BBC Radio 2 show last night to Smoke Feathers, talking about the band and our music, after we had recorded a live session for her new, forthcoming music project Janice Long Presents earlier in the evening. She also gave Liberation Theology a spin and recommended coming to see us play at the 12 Bar tonight, the Old Queen's Head in Angel on February 2 or Cafe Rene in Gloucester on February 3. You can find more details about those gigs on our Shows page. Janice has seen us play a few of times in recent months and we hope to catch up with her again soon. You can hear what she had to say about us on her show by clicking here and jumping 44 minutes into the show. We will let you know when our Janice Long Presents session and interview goes live. Thanks Janice!

New Smoke Feathers logo design by Ninety

Our very good friend Ninety at OneDrinPen has conjured up a beautiful new logo for us, drawing on the story behind our name and the vibe of what we do. We met Ninety through Natty's Vibes and Pressure movement, which has brought us so many different great new friends and experiences. Ninety is also designing our EP and LP covers ready for the forthcoming releases and we highly recommend his services. You can contact him via email here.

Four star review for Liberation LP in R2

The January/February issue of R2 Rock 'N' Reel magazine features a great, four-star review of our debut album Liberation, which is described as a "consciousness-raising collection" of "exceptional songs". Thanks to R2 news editor and music author David Burke for such a positive write-up in what is our first official review for the album. You can read it in full below.

Another date for Dodgy LP tour - Liverpool

The gracious Dodgy crew have asked us to play on another date on their forthcoming album tour, meaning we are on every night of the tour with them outside of London. We'll be at Eric's in Liverpool on Saturday, February 18th, so if you are in the area please come out and support us. Eric's has re-opened as a music venue after closing in 1980. For those of you who love a bit of British rock history, the club hosted The Clash, The Sex Pistols, Echo & The Bunnymen and early gigs by New Order and U2 back in the day. We want to say a big thanks to Dodgy for giving us the opportunity to get out on the road with them this year. The supports we did at the end of last year were unforgettable and it's been a real privilege watching one of our favourite British bands emerge once again with some killer new tracks. More importantly, they have also chipped in to share the care of our very own Stu Thoy (who has been wielding the bass live for Dodgy on their new material), which has given a bit more time to the rest of the Smoke Feathers family and friends to repair our livers in the new year than is usually the case.

Live in session for Janice Long on Jan 25

We will be recording a few songs and having a chat with BBC Radio 2 DJ Janice Long on Wednesday, January 25 at the Scandinavian Kitchen near Oxford Circus in London. The session is part of a new show "Janice Long Presents..." which will be going live very soon. Janice has been kind enough to champion us on her Radio 2 night-time shows over the last couple of months and has also been to see us play a few times live now, so it's great to be invited along for her latest live music project. The evening gets going at around 8pm. We'll let you know when the sessions are due to be broadcast.

Supporting Dodgy on their 2012 album tour

We will be hitting the road again in the second half of February with the mighty Dodgy as they release their hotly-anticipated new album. We were lucky enough to support them last year and it's a big honour to be asked back. Their new material on the album Stand Upright In A Cool Place has rightly been getting a lot of attention from the music press - the songs easily rank with their best. We suggest you check them out when you can and hope to see some of you out and about on the tour. Tickets can be bought here.

Friday, 17th February - The Box, Crewe
Saturday, 25th February - Eiger, Leeds
Sunday, 26th February - Bullingdon, Oxford

Liberation LP to be released on March 26, new three-track EP out on February 27

We are very excited to announce that our 11-track debut album Liberation will be released early this year. We will be launching the album in CD and digital formats on March 26th through Absolute Distribution on our own Delta Creek Records. In the run up to the launch, we will also be releasing a three-track EP featuring South America (which we recently played live on the Robert Elms show on BBC Radio London), Liberation Theology and We Will Maintain on February 27th via Absolute. For those that can't wait until March, you will be able to buy a pre-release copy of the album at any of our gigs from now on. The tracklisting for the album, recorded over the last couple of years with the inspirational Chris D'Adda at Vale Studios, is as follows: Liberation Theology, South America, Islands In Her Eyes, The Border, Light Over Me, Thunder, Faint Heart, The Wheel, We Will Maintain, Once Revolutionary and DJ On The Weekend. As many of you know, it's been a long road for us to get to this point, with many hurdles along the way - thanks for sticking with us so far. We hope you all dig the album.

Check out our live session for Robert Elms

We had a wonderful time on the Robert Elms show at the BBC Radio London studios today. As avid listeners, Robert has introduced us to some amazing acts on these live sessions in the past (such as Ray LaMontagne), so it was an incredible thing to be invited to play ourselves. We did an acoustic version of South America and had a nice chat with Robert about the band. Robert also played our studio recording of Liberation Theology. He's a cracking host and we hope very much to return to BBC Radio London in the future. If you missed the show, you can listen back to our full interview and live session here. The interview begins two hours and thirty-four minutes into the show, Liberation Theology follows that and we play South America after a little break. We have also created a video on our YouTube channel with just the performance of South America, which you can check out below.

On Robert Elms' BBC London show, Jan 3

We are very excited to announce that we will be appearing on the excellent Robert Elms BBC Radio London show on Tuesday, January 3rd. Tune in from 2pm to 94.9FM on Tuesday or listen online here to hear us play a song live in session and then have a chat with Robert. We've been listening to Robert for years and discovering all kinds of great new music on his shows, so it's a real honour to be invited along to take part in one. Hope you can take a few minutes out from what you are doing to listen in. We will also be most grateful if you could text or email the show if you enjoy our live session.

GreenGab PR and Hear This! to promote LP

The hearty crew at GreenGab PR and Hear This! have come on board the good ship Feathers to promote the launch of our Liberation LP early next year. GreenGab has worked with the pick of the best up and coming singer-songwriters such as Jon Allen, Megan Henwood (BBC Young Folk Award winner 2009) and Ruarri Joseph, as well as household names like Ruby Turner and the late, great Solomon Burke. Hear This! brings a world of experience to the deck, counting Jill Scott, Black Country Communion, Soweto Kinch, Bootsy Collins and Herbie Hancock among the artists they have promoted to radio. We are really looking forward to what the next few months have in store for us working with Gaby, Jay and Chris and we'd like to say a big, big thank you to them for getting involved and believing in our music. We will shortly be announcing details of our album release plans.

Wagon with 6 Music's Chris Hawkins - Feb 2

We have more details on the show we are doing for Chris Hawkins from BBC 6 Music on Thursday, February 2nd at the Old Queen's Head in Angel. It's shaping up to be an amazing night and we are most grateful to Chris for asking us to take part. Chris will be hosting the evening which includes sets from us, The Tricks, Coastal Cities and Louise Golbey. The Tricks are signed to Johnny Depp's Unison Music label and have been listed in the Red Pages Hot 100 2012 and Louise has been getting airplay from Trevor Nelson on BBC Radio 1Xtra and recently supported jazz guitar legend George Benson, so we are in pretty good company. Doors open at 7pm and the whole night is free entry. It's a great chance to see some of 2012's hotly-tipped acts without breaking the bank. The Old Queen's Head is one of our favourite small venues in London. It's always got a great vibe and we've never seen a bad night of music there. Get it in your diaries and we hope to see you there. 

Smoke Feathers on Dodgy's advent calendar

Dodgy have very kindly given us a special guest spot on their 2011 advent calendar today, with a link to three free downloads and our mailing list. We have supported Dodgy on their recent autumn/winter UK tour and are hoping to get back out on the road with them next year in support of their stunning new album, Stand Upright In A Cool Place. Our advent gift includes a free link to download Liberation Theology, our cover of Big Star's epic The Ballad Of El Goodo and Tropical Rain, a live favourite we recently recorded for Miles Hunt's excellent Shared project. To enjoy the treats of  Dodgy's advent calendar, which includes other free music and giveaways in aid of Cancer Research, simply go here and sign up for the updates. Keep an eye out for our very own Christmas present to you, coming very soon to a blog near you. To help get you in the festive mood, here's a free song and a link to our mailing list so you can keep up to date with all the latest Smoke Feathers news.

Green Note show with Tom Moriarty - Jan 18

We have confirmed our first show of the new year with the excellent singer-songwriter Tom Moriarty at Camden's Green Note on Wednesday, January 18th. Tom is a fascinating artist who gave up a career working in the City of London to become a protest singer. His music reflects the times we are living in and we are proud to be sharing the same stage with him. Tom's latest single, Smile If You Wanna Get High, has just been playlisted on BBC Radio 2, so you may already be familiar with his work. The Green Note is one of the finest, small music venues in London and a great place to relax and check out new music. Here's the event page on Green Note's website and you can buy tickets for £6 pounds in advance from this link. Doors open at 7pm and the music kicks off at around 9pm. Hope you can make it down.

Headlining the Camden Barfly on Dec 7

Our last full band show of the year is going to be a headline slot at the Camden Barfly on Wednesday, December 7. Please come down and help us celebrate what has been a truly blessed year for us. Playing six times at Glastonbury, getting championed by Radio 2's Janice Long, hitting the road with Dodgy, touring the Virgin Islands with the incredible John Blood, getting two tracks on Miles Hunt's Shared 2 compilation and finally finishing our album Liberation at the wonderful Vale Studios, ready for official release early next year... It's been one to remember. We are now in full flow getting everything ready for our album launch and a whole load of shows next year, with some very exciting plans in the pipeline which we will be revealing in the coming days and weeks. Tickets for the Barfly show are five pounds in advance and can be bought here. Hope to see you there, with feathers on. We are on stage at 10pm.

Supporting Dodgy in St Albans on Dec 2

We will be supporting Dodgy on Friday night at The Horn in St Albans - our second support slot with them in the last few weeks. Our bass player Stu has been playing with Dodgy across the UK throughout the autumn and winter as they showcase material from their new album Stand Upright In A Cool Place and wheel out some of their older hits such Good Enough and Staying Out For The Summer. It's been great getting the chance to meet Nigel, Math and Andy - they really are a lovely bunch and it's so exciting to see them back with a new record. Their new material is more than worth the wait. Cracking songwriting and a beautiful sound. Take our advice and get to one of these shows for a full, live preview before their album is released next year. Needless to say, we are stoked to be opening the night for them again. We will be playing tracks from our own forthcoming album, Liberation, in  our first gig on home soil since the Virgin Islands tour, so come down and join us if you are in the area. Tickets cost 15 pounds and can be bought here.

Midnight Mango agency now booking for us

We are very excited to announce that the Midnight Mango live music production company has taken us on for live bookings. MM's Zac Peters was kind enough to drive all the way up from the south west to see us play with Dodgy in London in October and we all got on great, so we're really looking forward to a long, fun and fruitful partnership with MM. Zac, who also works with the John Peel Stage at Glastonbury, the Great Escape and SXSW,  is booking a UK tour for us in early 2012 which will coincide with the official launch of our album, Liberation. If you want to book the band for a show, you can get in touch with Zac on +44 (0)7837 681905 or via email here. MM look after a load of wonderful bands and artists including Adrian Edmondson & The Bad Shepherds, The Selecter and Neville Staple of The Specials and also book events with the likes of Dodgy, Lau, Chris Wood and Ruarri Joseph. Onwards and upwards, people...

First festival booked for 2012: Lakefest

It feels like the festival season has only just finished, but we are already booked in for another weekend of madness at the start of next summer and looking to book up plenty more slots to make up for the absence of Glastonbury in 2012. So, on Saturday May 19, we'll be heading to Gloucestershire to play at the picturesque Lakefest alongside the likes of The Levellers, Reef, Dodgy and Miles and Erica from The Wonder Stuff. The festival takes place at the Croft Farm Waterpark in Bredons Hardwick near Tewkesbury. Camping tickets for the weekend are priced at £79 for adults and £49 for children aged 11 to 15. More details can be found here.