The Irish singer-songwriter’s eighth album, recorded in a matter of days, launches his new label Cormorant Bird on January 22nd, ahead of six Irish dates including the National Concert Hall.
Fionn Regan has announced his eighth album, Berlin, Berlin, out Friday January 22nd 2027. It’s the first release on his new label, Cormorant Bird, which launches in partnership with Secretly Distribution, and opening track ‘Hurricane Bruise’ is out now.
Irish tour tickets
Tickets for the Republic of Ireland dates go on sale this Wednesday October 7th at 10am from the venue box offices.
- Friday February 26th 2027 – Dolan’s Warehouse, Limerick. €28
- Saturday February 27th 2027 – Live at St Luke’s, Cork. €34.85.
- Tuesday March 2nd 2027 – Theatre Royal, Waterford. €34 and €37
- Wednesday March 3rd 2027 – National Concert Hall, Dublin. €34.65, €37.95 and €55.55.
- Thursday March 4th 2027 – Spirit Store, Dundalk. €33.50.
- Friday March 5th 2027 – Limelight Belfast, £TBA
- All ticket prices are without fees.
The album arrives just over two years after 2024’s O Avalanche, and Regan describes it as a response to that record, a darker, more nocturnal twin. Where O Avalanche grew out of time spent in Mallorca and sun-dappled daytime landscapes, Berlin, Berlin is city-minded, populated by characters adrift in hallways and mazes and full of winter light and night skies. “I had a craving for something minimal,” he says.
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The stripped-back approach extended to how it was made. Regan recorded the album in East London in five or six days, aiming for a “first thought, best thought” immediacy he compares to a Kerouac-style idea of just doing something and not overthinking it. He describes the songs as landing together like notes scribbled on hotel paper or a beermat, and cites the rich tones and black-and-whites of classic Italian cinema as a reference point. The result plays like a half-remembered film seen in the small hours.
‘Hurricane Bruise’ opens the record without preamble, with spectral figures trying to find a way out towards the light. Elsewhere, ‘Don’t Forget Your Friends’ has the low thrum of McCabe & Mrs Miller-era Leonard Cohen, ‘Black Silk Dress’ hints at a story of mourning or some other unspecified trauma, and ‘Berlin’ unspools as a tale of the city at night, full of missed assignations and closely guarded memories.
The mood brightens by increments as the record goes on, from the dappled arrangement of ‘Your Love Is Like Wine’ to the dream-state gleam of ‘Michibiki No Hoshi’. ‘The Streets Are Wet With Rain’ and ‘Fox Kiss’ lean into romantic imagery, with ‘Ghosts of the morning’ suggesting a kind of dawning, before ‘Love Blood’ closes the album as a constant, warm declaration of devotion.
Regan has been following where his songs lead since his 2006 debut The End of History, which was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize. ‘Dogwood Blossom’, from 2011’s 100 Acres of Sycamore, found new audiences through Normal People and This Is England ’86, Cillian Murphy appeared in the video for 2017’s ‘The Meetings of the Waters’, and he has been sampled by Bon Iver and photographed by Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair.
Berlin, Berlin tracklist
- Hurricane Bruise
- Don’t Forget Your Friends
- Black Silk Dress
- Berlin
- White Gold
- Your Love Is Like Wine
- Michibiki No Hoshi
- The Streets Are Wet With Rain
- Fox Kiss
- Love Blood
Berlin, Berlin is available to pre-order now.
2027 Ireland, UK and EU tour dates
- Friday February 26th – Dolan’s Warehouse, Limerick
- Saturday February 27th – Live at St Luke’s, Cork
- Tuesday March 2nd – Theatre Royal, Waterford
- Wednesday March 3rd – National Concert Hall, Dublin
- Thursday March 4th – Spirit Store, Dundalk
- Friday March 5th – Limelight, Belfast
- Tuesday March 9th – Cottiers, Glasgow
- Wednesday March 10th – Howard Assembly Rooms, Leeds
- Thursday March 11th – Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle
- Friday March 12th – St Mary’s, Chester
- Saturday March 13th – Stoller Hall, Manchester (Manchester Folk Festival)
- Monday March 15th – Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham
- Tuesday March 16th – The Lantern, Bristol
- Thursday March 18th – St Michael’s Mount Dinham, Exeter
- Friday March 19th – EartH Theatre, London
- Saturday March 20th – The Church, Ipswich
- Sunday March 21st – Junction 2, Cambridge
- Tuesday March 23rd – Tolhuistuin Zonzij, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Friday March 26th – Les Trois Baudets, Paris, France
- Saturday March 27th – Die Wohngemeinschaft, Cologne, Germany
- Wednesday March 31st – Nochtspeicher, Hamburg, Germany
- Thursday April 1st – Colosseum, Berlin, Germany
- Friday April 2nd – Manufaktur, Schorndorf, Germany
- Saturday April 3rd – Bedroomdisco, Darmstadt, Germany
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
