Kingfishr return with their first music of the year with the release of,‘The Blade’, out via B-Unique/Atlantic Records.
Kingfishr finished 2025 with a bang, celebrating a fully sold out Irish/UK tour, which included two nights at Dublin’s 3Arena. They debuted ‘The Blade’ on the tour, to resounding approval from their fans.
‘The Blade’ is out now, and is available to stream and downloadhere.
Deeply personal, while being wholly relatable, ‘The Blade’ is an ode about reaching for darkness when you assume you’ve exhausted all other options. The track is richly melancholic but also just as evocative and euphoric as has become Kingfishr’s signature.
Speaking about the song, Kingfishr said,
“The Blade is probably as heavy a tune as we’re ever likely to release. It’s not something we ever expected to be writing about given the seriousness of it all.
“The song just kind of happened and we feel it deserves to see the light of day”.
Lyrically, ‘The Blade’ it leaves little to the imagination, nor is it wrapped within metaphor. It’s about the loneliness you can feel, even when you’re not alone, the turmoil of struggling when you can’t pinpoint what you’re struggling with; the sadness when you’re otherwise happy with your lot. Rather than confronting those feelings, you push them down, locking them away, hiding them away, where they become just another problem to look after another time.
The music video for ‘The Blade’ saw Kingfishr collaborate with fellow Irishman – and collective band favourite – the award-winning actor Anthony Boyle, best known for his work in ‘House of Guinness’, ‘Say Nothing’, and ‘Tolkien’, just to name a few. The talented artist was able to subtly but beautifully, bring the band’s lyrical reflections to life in his performance.
Kingfishr speaks of the experience.
“We met Mr. Anthony Boyle at a gig we were playing in Vancouver. He was shooting in the city and came to the show. We’re big fans of his work and we’d never met any famous actors, so we were delighted with ourselves. Funnily enough, we had organised a back garden gig later that night so you can imagine how that went.
“He called into the 3Arena at Christmas too, and very graciously agreed to be part of the video for The Blade after that. The whole thing came together over the space of like, four days.
“Anto’s friend and director, Sean, is a filmmaker from Derry. We used his short film Inhale as a blueprint. One minute we were on a phone call with Anthony and Sean, the next we were watching House of Guinness’s leading actor riding a horse along the edge of the hill outside Derry, for our music video. Mental.”
Anto is a true talent and a great person. We’re honoured to call him a friend :)”
Speaking about working with Kingfishr, Anthony Boyle said,
“Kingfishr are one of my favourite bands so when the boys asked me did I fancy making a music video for their new song, I was buzzing. I listened to it and thought there’s one man for the job of director – Mr Sean Patrick Mullan. We put our heads together over the next few days and created this music video on big Jim’s farm in Donegal. Special times. A special band. And a really special song”.
Watch the music video for ‘The Blade’ below.
Kingfishr released their debut album, ‘Halcyon’, back in August last year, reaching number 1 in Ireland, and returned there in time for Christmas. The album’s popularity was achieved mostly by word of mouth, and the band’s repeat touring, which saw them move rapidly onto larger stages in bigger venues. It was however, the track ‘Killeagh’, which assured their greatest impact. Now certified four times platinum in Ireland, it’s established itself as a modern day national anthem of sorts, and when the band performed onstage in Dublin just before Christmas, vocalist Eddie Keogh’s vocal was all but drowned out by the capacity crowd at the 3Arena, with barely a dry eye amongst them.
Similarly, the UK has also taken Kingfishr straight to their hearts, with ‘Halcyon’ debuting in the top 10 on release, and tour dates sold out from Glasgow to London, and plenty of stages in between. On their last UK run, the band commandeered two sold out nights at London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town, and will return in May for two more sold out shows at O2 Academy Brixton. Their journey from the 200 capacity Camden Assembly to 10,000 fans in Brixton has been impressively swift. Further afield, the US welcomed them in the Autumn with a second string of sell-out shows across the pond, and they are already plotting their return for later in the year.
Following the release ofThe Blade, Kingfishr return to the studio to continue work onHalcyon’s follow-up, interjected with touring that takes them to Australia for the first time throughout March and the big UK run in May.
You can find out more about Kingfishr and their music online via their official website, and see them perform live on the following dates:
10thMarch – Forum, Melbourne – SOLD OUT
11thMarch – Forum, Melbourne – SOLD OUT
12thMarch – Forum, Melbourne – SOLD OUT
14thMarch – The Tovoli, Brisbane – SOLD OUT
16thMarch – Enmore Theatre, Newtown – SOLD OUT
17thMarch – Enmore Theatre, Newtown – SOLD OUT
19thMarch – The Astor Theatre, Perth – SOLD OUT
21stMarch – P7 Arena, Dubai – SOLD OUT
14thMay – The Dome, Brighton (The Great Escape Spotlight)
16thMay – O2 Academy, Birmingham – SOLD OUT
17thMay – Olympia, Liverpool – SOLD OUT
19thMay – Depot, Cardiff – SOLD OUT
20thMay – O2 Academy Brixton, London – SOLD OUT
21stMay – O2 Academy Brixton, London – SOLD OUT
23rdMay – O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester – SOLD OUT
24thMay – O2 Academy, Glasgow – SOLD OUT
25thMay – O2 Academy, Glasgow – SOLD OUT
29thMay – Dauwpop Festival, Hellendoorn, Netherlands
5thJune – St Annes Park, Dublin – SOLD OUT
8thJune- SSE Arena, Belfast – SOLD OUT
9thJune- SSE Arena, Belfast – SOLD OUT
11thJune – Virgin Media Park, Cork – SOLD OUT
12thJune – Virgin Media Park, Cork – SOLD OUT
13thJune – Malahide Castle, Co. Dublin – SOLD OUT
19thJune – PinkPop, Landgraaf, Netherlands
20thJune – Hurricane Festival, Scheesel, Germany
21stJune – Southside Festival, Neuhausen Ob Eck, Germany
26thJune – State Fayre, Chelmsford
3rdJuly – Rock Werchter, Belgium
19thJuly – Splendour Festival, Nottingham
4thSeptember – Moseley Folk & Arts Festival, Birmingham