Ben Howard Announces New Album ‘Is It’, Shares First Track ‘Couldn’t Make It Up’

Ben Howard has announced the release of his fifth studio album, Is It? on June 16 2023 through Island Records. The album is introduced by its first track “Couldn’t Make It Up” which you can check out below.

Produced by Bullion (Westerman, Nilüfer Yanya, Orlando Weeks), “Couldn’t Make It Up” is the first taste oft ten-song Is It?, exploring music after Ben experienced two mini strokes (TIAs).The record is a lush and layered album which captures Howard trying to make sense of those personal moments of seismic shift.

Ben says “I found it impossible not to dwell on the absurdity of it, that with one tiny clot, one can lose all faculties. It really ate into the writing of the record.”

In March 2022, Ben Howard was sat quietly in his garden when he found himself unable to think clearly, form sentences or speak for almost an hour. A month later, after the same thing happened again, the Ivor Novello Award-winning singer-songwriter learned he’d suffered two TIAs (transient ischemic attacks – known as mini-strokes). “It was out of the blue,” says the 35 year-old. “It was a confusing time.”

That June, after a month of inconclusive hospital tests,Howard and his band returned to Le Manoir de Léon, where they’d previously worked on his acclaimed third album, Noonday Dream. In the Summer of 2022, Ben and his band recorded Is It? over 10 days at the studio, nestled between Bordeaux and Biarritz, in the South of France.

Is It? marks the release of Howard’s first new music since the release of Noonday Dream, which debuted at the top of the UK album charts, rewarding the artist with his the second number one record to his career to date.

Next month, Howard kicks off a UK and European tour in Madrid at La Riviera on May 18, hitting cities through Spain, Portugal, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Slovakia, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and the UK including an already sold-out show at London’s new Alexandra Palace Park on July 22. He is currently confirmed for UK festival performances at Boardmasters and Victorious in Portsmouth, and headlines ‘On the Mount at Wasing’ series of outdoor shows in Berkshire. In addition, a new date at London’s Royal Albert Hall is now announced for June 1. Tickets go on general sale from Friday April 28 at 10am BST.

Pre-order Is It?

Ben Howard Live:
18 May – La Riviera, Madrid
19 May – Santana 27, Bilbao
20 May – Palacio de Congresos, Santiago de Compostela
22 May – Coliseu Lisboa, Lisbon
23 May – Coliseu Porto, Porto
25 May – Razzmatazz, Barcelona
26 May – Le Rocher de Palmer, Bordeaux
1 June – Royal Albert Hall, London
15 June – Fairview Park, Dublin
17 June – Piknik I Parken – Oslo, Norway
19 June – Carré Theatre, Amsterdam SOLD OUT
20 June – Carré Theatre, Amsterdam SOLD OUT
21 June – Phil Haarlem, Netherlands
30 June – Rock Werchter, Werchter, Belgium
1 July – On The Mount At Wasing, Berkshire
2 July – Down the Rabbit Hole, Beuningen
4 July – Philarmonie de Paris, Paris
6 July – Arena Wien, Vienna
7 July – Pohoda Festival, Trenčín
9 July – Sexto ‘Nplugged, Sesto Al Reghena
11 July – Žluté Lázně, Prague
12 July – Progresja Summer Stage, Warsaw
14 July – Zitadelle, Berlin
15 July – Stadtpark, Hamburg
17 July – Tonhalle, Munich
18 July – X-Tra, Zurich
21 July – SWG3 Yard, Glasgow
22 July – Alexandra Palace Park, London SOLD OUT
23 July – Cardiff Castle, Cardiff
11 August – Boardmasters, Newquay
27 August – Victorious Festival, Portsmouth