The Veils Lift The Lid On A Sombre Interior

The Veils Release New Album 'Fragile World' 

Out on V2 Records, Friday 19th June, 2026

Guys! The weather has taken a dark turn here in the UK, which isn't helping the summer vibe and then you decide to launch a wintry-feeling album called Fragile World on us, available from 19th June, 2026.  With the piano keyboard delivering some frosty vibes and a mournful tone, I guess there must be some tough winters in New Zealand.

The album is rated as a change for The Veils, whose previous album Asphodels was issued about a year ago. It has been remarked that Fragile World 'marks a striking shift in tone and energy' for the band. I admit that I don't like to dig too far into a band's history, I just want to listen to any new album in its own right, unless it is part of a trilogy, or some epic concept series. I want to consider if an album stands up in its own right. Do I get it? Does it get me in some striking manner?

For this release I have made an exception to see whether the 'striking shift in tone and energy' is apparent.  For fans of The Veils, there will be solace in that the shift in energy alluded to is hard to detect.  This is definitely an album by The Veils that you will recognise as one their own.  The musical tone of the new album does shift from Asphodels, as the new songs, recorded 'live to tape' have not the wealth of instrumentation featured previously. The new album focuses more fully on the velvet timbre of Finn Andrews' voice with piano, or keyboard being the primary accompaniment on most tracks.  Fragile World is a much simpler album than the last in that respect.

Andrews has said about putting this album together,

“It was all very instinctual, quite full-on, and scary at times - but a good kind of scary, not scary like the real world out there.” 

Which suggests that he's facing some challenges at present. What these might be I cannot speculate, but there is a very personal tone to his songs. He frequently addresses his songs to 'my love' and he seems to be appealing to someone to see him, hear him, answer him, or even signal to him that he is acknowledged as still existing.  There are lines sung here which allude to difficulty in writing and finding the right words for whatever instance.  It does get a bit meta, just as poets writing about writing poetry and novelists writing novels about novelists writing novels.  So what is going on with Andrews here?  If you follow The Veils, you will be far better placed than me to divine his underlying concerns.

It has also been remarked that the new album is 'an immediate, intense, and emotional record' from The Veils. I concur this album comes across as 'intense and emotional'.   Well, we've all been there I suspect, but whether that makes for art that's fit for sharing, or is just for clearing the head and putting in a drawer somewhere, is the question every creative should ask of themselves.

Finn Andrews visits intense and emotional places in Fragile World

This sombre-paced collection of songs is by turns sad, gloomy and even turns a little nasty.  My Foolish Heart at first suggests a chirpier number is coming along, but "You don't you turn your back on me." is a clear threat, to whom one can only imagine. It is language, that suggests the prospect of violence, or some coercion. Is this real, or an imagined character singing?  It certainly communicates threat well. 

The song that follows comes across as an effort to apologise, "I don't know how to say it, baby, so it came out all wrong / If you're waiting by your window later, leave that little light on / Tell me if you can..." Excuses are laid down about being tormented by personal devils and so on, so an apology of sorts.

The Veils have a strong commercial track record and with the input of Paddy Hill and Tom Healy, (who worked with the sadly missed The Chills)  on production, Andrews has a strong studio team behind the new album, so it is likely that this release will make a mark.  There are a couple of tracks that I really enjoyed, New Day gives the album a positive lift, but the concluding song, In This Heart really buries any glimpse of hope or optimism.

When things are so bleak around us, what do we need from our artists? Of course, ringing an alarm bell is an important and brave artistic act, protest at injustice, firing up the forces of rebellion, suggesting a route out, are all vital artistic messages in whatever media.  Here, on this album Finn Andrews seems currently quite lost in his own world. Yes, the real world can be a scary place, but it is where we all are, life is out here. Time perhaps for The Veils to step outside and rejoin us. 

A month long EU/UK tour is confirmed for late 2026:

Wed 04 Nov 2026         Sofia   Sofia Live Club, Bulgaria

Thu 05 Nov 2026     Istanbul   Salon IKSV, Türkiye

Fri 06 Nov 2026             Bucharest   Control Club, Romania

Sat 07 Nov 2026      Athens   Arch Club, Greece

Wed 11 Nov 2026         Antwerp.  Trix, Belgium

Thu 12 Nov 2026     Lille   Grand Mix, France

Fri 13 Nov 2026            Paris   Maroquinerie, France                                 

Sat 14 Nov 2026      Fribourg   Nouveau Monde, Switzerland  

Tue 17 Nov 2026         Bologna   Locomotiv, Italy

Wed 18 Nov 2026    Milan.  Magnolia, Italy

Thu 19 Nov 2026         Winterthur   Salzhaus Winterthur, Switzerland

Sat 21 Nov 2026       Vienna   Chelsea, Austria

Sun 22 Nov 2026          Prague   Cafe V lese, Czechia

Tue 24 Nov 2026      Berlin   Gretchen, Germany

Wed 25 Nov 2026       Hamburg   Molotow Club, Germany

Fri 27 Nov 2026        Nijmegen, Doornroosje, Netherlands

Sat 28 Nov 2026          Groningen   Ooosterpoort, Netherlands

Sun 29 Nov 2026      Amsterdam   Paradiso, Netherlands

Tue 01 Dec 2026             Manchester   YES, England

Wed 02 Dec 2026     Glasgow   G2, Scotland

Thu 03 Dec 2026         Leeds   Brudenell Social Club, England

Fri 04 Dec 2026        London   Islington Assembly Hall, England

Tickets will be available in due course.