The Darkness release details of reunion album 'Hot Cakes'

The Darkness

Credit: Scarlet Page

U.K. rockers The Darkness are back. The cheeky metal titans will release their third studio album, "Hot Cakes" (Wind-up/PIAS), on August 21.

It's hard to believe it's been seven years since we last heard from the multi-platinum band. Their 2003 debut, "Permission to Land," spawned the infectious hit "I Believe in a Thing Called Love." Two years later, their sophomore album failed to meet the same expectations and frontman Justin Hawkins departed amid reports of substance abuse problems. The band reunited last year and announced the new album.

"Hot Cakes" was produced by the band’s core siblings Justin and Dan Hawkins along with long-time collaborator Nick Brine. The legendary Bob Ezrin (Kiss, Pink Floyd) mixed the collection.

“When we first heard a new Darkness track and after seeing them play live in NYC, we knew The Darkness were back!” explained Wind-up CEO Edward Vetri in a release. “The Darkness and Wind-up make a great rock partnership and we look forward to working with them to launch 'Hot Cakes.'”

The Darkness are also gearing up for an extensive tour that will bring them to most corners of the world and will even find them sharing the stage with Lady Gaga for a number of European dates.

Australian tour dates:

5/4 Brisbane, Australia Eaton Hill
5/5 Newcastle, Australia Workers
5/6 Sydney, Australia Roundhouse
5/8 Melbourne, Australia Palace
5/9 Melbourne, Australia Palace
5/10 Canberra, Australia ANU
5/12 Adelaide, Australia The Barton Theatre

U.S. tour dates:

5/18 New Haven, CT Toad’s Place
5/19 Baltimore, MD Infield Fest
5/20 Columbus, OH Rock on the Range Festival
5/22 Nashville, TN Marathon Music Works
5/23 New Orleans, LA House of Blues
5/25 Austin, TX Stubb’s
5/26 Pryor, OK Rocklahoma Festival
5/27 Dallas, TX House Of Blues

European festival dates:

6/2 Trondheim, Norway Trondheim Rock
6/8 Solvesburg, Sweden Sweden Rock
6/16 Spain Plein Air
6/23 Milan, Italy Gods of Metal Festival
6/24 UK Isle of Wight Festival
6/29 Belgrade, Serbia Usce Park
7/6 Kinross, Scotland T in the Park
7/7 Amneville, France Snowhall Parc
7/8 France Sonisphere
7/14 Suffolk, UK Thetford Forest
8/4 Oder, Poland Woodstock Festival

European tour dates with Lady Gaga:

8/14 Sofia, Bulgaria Vasil Levski National Stadium
8/16 Bucharest, Romania Arena Nationala Stadium
8/18 Vienna, Austria Wiener Stadhalle
8/21 Vilnius, Lithuania Vingis Park
8/23 Riga, Latvia Mezaparks
8/25 Tallinn Tallinn Song Festival Grounds
8/27 Helsinki, Finland Hartwell Arena
8/30 Stockholm, Sweden Ericsson Globe
9/2 Copenhagen, Denmark Parken Stadium
9/4 Koln, Germany Lanxess Arena
9/5 Koln, Germany Lanxess Arena
9/8 London, UK Twickenham
9/9 London, UK Twickenham
9/11 Manchester, UK Evening News Arena
9/15 Dublin. Ireland Aviva Stadium
9/17 Amsterdam, Netherlands Ziggo Dome
9/18 Amsterdam, Netherlands Ziggo Dome
9/22 Paris, France Stade de France
9/24 Hannover, Germany TUI Arena
9/26 Zurich, Switzerland Hallenstadion
9/27 Zurich, Switzerland Hallenstadion
9/29 Wilrijk, Belgium Sportpaleis
9/29 Wilrijk, Belgium Sportpaleis
10/2 Milan, Italy Mediolanum Forum
10/4 Nice, France Stade Charles-Ehrmann
10/6 Barcelona, Spain Palau St Jordi

Tour details and ticket information can be found on the band's site.

Dave Lewis
Producer

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Dave Lewis has been a Los Angeles-based entertainment writer and editor for nearly ten years. Originally hailing from Minneapolis, he moved to L.A. in 1996 to attend USC, before working for various periodicals and web sites including a lengthy stint at Variety.com. He joined the HitFix staff in 2011.