The Songs Behind: Will Varley

It has been nearly 4 years since Will Varley released his last studio album 'The Hole Around My Head', which is why there is so much excitement around his upcoming 7th studio album 'Machines Will Never Learn To Make Mistakes Like Me'. The new LP is set for release on May 30th, in what is already shaping up to be one of the albums of the year. Will has already release four singles from the new record, featuring truly incredible tracks like 'Different Man' and 'Whatever's Left', and although it sounds cliché, these really are some of his best ever songs. The record contains some of Varley's most poignant and introspective work to date, combining breathtaking lyricism with the indie-folk charm that has made Will Varley so loved.

Before the new album is released Will is embarking on a tour across the UK with his band 'Will Varley & The Southern Rust', playing some of the county's most loved independent venues, starting tonight at 'The Leadmill' in Sheffield. These shows will not only provide the perfect opportunity to hear some of Will Varley's biggest and best songs, they will also provide the opportunity to be amongst the first people to hear this exciting new era of music. The album reveal has also been paired with another huge tour announcement for October 2025, which will see Will Varley play a European headline tour, preceded by a massive date at London's EartH.

March & April UK Tour:

25 Mar: Sheffield The Leadmill
26 Mar: Edinburgh The Voodoo Rooms
27 Mar: Glasgow Drygate
28 Mar: Newcastle The Cluny
29 Mar: Liverpool Arts Club
30 Mar: Nottingham Rescue Rooms
01 Apr: Cambridge The Junction
02 Apr: Bristol Thekla
03 Apr: Falmouth The Cornish Bank
04 Apr: Southampton The Joiners (Sold Out)
05 Apr: Brighton Patterns
06 Apr: Margate Where Else?
 

October EU + London Tour:

04 Oct: London EartH
09 Oct: Middelburg De Spot - Nl
10 Oct: Zwolle Hedon - Nl
11 Oct: Amsterdam Melkweg - Nl
12 Oct: Eindhoven ‘t Rozenknopje - Nl
13 Oct: Frankfurt Nachtleben - De
15 Oct: Zurich Dynamo - Ch
16 Oct: Munich Kranhalle - De
17 Oct: Vienna B72 - At
21 Oct: Berlin Quasimodo - De
22 Oct: Hamburg Nochtspeicher - De
23 Oct: Cologne Helios 37 - De

To celebrate the tour's opening night, I am joined by Will Varley to discover more about the new album and shows, before discovering the songs that shaped him through my 'Songs Behind' feature.

You have gained a deserved reputation for being one of the country's most talented lyricists, penning introspective and genuinely relatable lyrics. How therapeutic do you find the process of songwriting?

"I think we’ve got to a point where our digital lives take up so much of our heads that almost anything you can do that doesn't involve a screen or any outside input, feels like a kind of therapy. Songwriting is a great example of that. It’s like baking bread. People have been writing songs probably longer than they’ve been baking. I tend to use songwriting to try to make sense of things, to help me navigate through my life. If those songs are useful to other people, then that is a great privilege."

You are heading on a pre-release tour across the UK. How excited are you to play these new songs live before the album's full release?

"I'm very excited. It's been a while since I last did a proper UK tour, and it's an honour to be returning to these legendary independent music venues. I'll be doing lots of old songs on the tour, and some of the new records too. In terms of touring before the album release - I feel like our collective attention spans are shorter than they've ever been. Once the album is out, the world moves on so quickly! Social media has given us this incredible hunger for content and I think that has blown things up a little bit for old fashioned songwriters like me. So it makes sense to me to tour the music before the release. And I do think it's fun to have at least some songs in a set that the audience might not know."

This is your first record since 2021, with the last being released on the backend of the pandemic. How do you feel you have evolved as an artist since then, and how has that evolution shaped this new record?

"I actually wrote a novel between making my last record and this one, which took me about a year and a half to finish. I don’t know if that taught me some level of patience or not? My first few albums were basically recorded live, in a very short space of time, and I’ve gradually taken more time over things. This album took a similar amount of time to the novel, from the demos to the finished product. Which is new for me. There is an attention to detail, in terms of the production, that I’ve not reached before. I dunno, maybe I’m just getting slower because I’m getting older…"