Big Special & John Grant Share New Single, ‘Stay Down, Lazarus’

Big Special & John Grant Share New Single, ‘Stay Down, Lazarus’

The Black Country’s Big Special have joined forces with the acclaimed New York songwriter John Grant for their latest single, Stay Down, Lazarus, released via SO. Recordings. 

With its dark, atmospheric sounds and haunting vocals, ‘STAY DOWN, LAZARUS’ explores themes of deception and societal expectations. The song delves into the experience of being confined by external pressures and forced to conform to a predetermined path. Lead singer Joe Hicklin states:

Stay Down, Lazarus is just a big moan about the social promise of elevation and rising up, that doesn’t really exist for most people. It was actually the first song written for BIG SPECIAL, but it didn’t make our debut album. We always felt it needed something more, so we took a shot in the dark and asked John Grant, a major influence of ours, to have a crack at it with us. We are proper chuffed he wanted to get involved and still pinching ourselves.

John Grant adds:

Was very psyched that Big Special asked me along for the ride on this track. Had a blast doing this!

Big Special, whose debut album, Postindustrial Hometown Blues, recently charted within the Top 40 in the UK, have been captivating audiences with their energetic live performances at major festivals like Glastonbury, Green Man, Latitude, and Reading & Leeds this summer. The band are set to support John Grant on his UK and Europe tour this winter before they wrap up their year with headline shows in Europe, India, Thailand, and Australia.

Big Special Tour Dates

  • 17 Oct – Hackney Church, London, UK + (SOLD OUT)
  • 18 Oct – Hackney Church, London, UK + 
  • 19 Oct – The Fire Station, Sunderland, UK +
  • 21 Oct – Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow, UK +
  • 22 Oct – Vicar Street, Dublin, IE + (SOLD OUT)
  • 24 Oct – The Tramshed, Cardiff, UK + 
  • 25 Oct – Beacon, Bristol, UK +
  • 26 Oct – De La Warr Pavillion, Bexhill, UK + (SOLD OUT)
  • 28 Oct – Town Hall, Birmingham, UK + (SOLD OUT)
  • 29 Oct – Epic Studios, Norwich, UK +
  • 31 Oct – New Century Hall, Manchester, UK + (SOLD OUT)
  • 01 Nov – Project House, Leeds, UK + (SOLD OUT)
  • 02 Nov – Philharmonic, Liverpool, UK +
  • 05 Nov – Melgweg, Amsterdam, NL (John Grant only)
  • 06 Nov – Kulturkirche, Cologne, DE +
  • 07 Nov – Columbia Theater, Berlin, DE + 
  • 09 Nov – Train, Aarhus, DK +
  • 10 Nov – Vega, Copenhagen, DK + 
  • 11 Nov – Nalen, Stockholm, SE +
  • 13 Nov – Rockefeller Music Hall, Oslo, NO +
  • 15 Nov – Rolling Stone Beach Festival, DE &
  • 29 March 2025 – O2 Forum, Kentish Town, London, UK $

+ = Supporting John Grant

& = Festival show

$ = BIG SPECIAL headline show

Big Special Tour Dates

Katie Macbeth

katie macbeth

Katie Macbeth is a freelance music journalist and editor of Indie is not a Genre.



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