LIVERPOOL band, The Zutons have announced that they will be playing at Dunfermline's PJ Molloys next year. 

The Indie Rock group will be performing at the venue as a part of their intimate tour, Creeping on the Dance, on Wednesday, March 6. 

It comes after the band announced their first album together for 16 years. 

The Big Decider comes into view as an album of stark significance to the band, completed by Dave McCabe, who is the lead vocalist and guitarist, Abi Harding, who plays the saxophone as well as providing vocals, and Sean Payne, who plays the drums and provides vocals.

Written against the backdrop of a decade and a half’s worth of lived experience, it is born under the weight of family tragedies, lives lost and created, reality checks, and home truths faced up to and stared down.

But it was the pandemic that fast-tracked the release, as Dave explained: "We were all living together in our own little bubble, plenty of booze and mushrooms and a lot of bonding! It was necessary."

Then Dave's subsequent time in rehab sparked a turning point in the positivity of the new album and the joyful experience of putting it together. 

Abi said: “Dave has been through an awful lot in the last few years, and these things have obviously really impacted him. But his songwriting has only got better.

"Now he spends more time on his songs. He’s in touch with his own and others’ emotions, and that all goes into the songs. It has been so nice to watch him grow. I’m so proud of him.”

The Big Decider was recorded at Abbey Road Studios with legendary songwriter and producer Nile Rodgers, alongside the band's original producer Ian Broudie.

Dave continued: "Working with Nile was just an amazing experience, he gave me a confidence that I’ve never felt before making a record. He’s very laid-back as a person and a good listener.

"On the song ‘Disappear’, I wrote a spoken word piece about The Zutons travelling the stars and galaxies asking the most powerful question in the universe, Why?'

"I asked Nile if he’d read it out over the top of the end section of the song, thinking he’d just say no. But he jumped in the vocal booth with his chain around his neck and his sunglasses on and did about 20 different takes, all in different styles of himself.

"It was mind-blowing! It was as though he really does travel around the universe in some spaceship and just makes music in his spare time. He’s just one of the coolest people I’ve ever met.

"It was great to reconnect with Ian Broudie on this record as well. He told me the demo of Big Decider brought a tear to his eye and that’s why he said yes to working with us again.

"It was one of the first songs we wrote for the album so getting that reaction from Ian made me feel like we were doing something right. The song spoke for itself.”

Abi describes the long-anticipated album as a lifetime of “great chemistry and great connection."

Or as drummer, Sean Payne puts it: “We had a genuine feeling of a shared vision. In the past, we haven’t really said how we feel, or we’ve taken each other the wrong way.

"But this album was different. We really didn’t feel good until it was just how we wanted it.”

The Big Decider will be released on April 26 and is available for pre-order now. 

Tickets for the Creeping on the Dance Tour are on sale now. 

Both can be purchased on the Zutons website.