Haircut One Hundred: New album after more than four decades
HAIRCUT One Hundred will play York Barbican on May 8 2026 on next spring’s tour to showcase Boxing The Compass, their first album with singer Nick Heyward in 44 years.
Tickets for the Beckenham, London band’s only Yorkshire gig on their 11-date itinerary go on general sale at 10am on October 24 at yorkbarbican.co.uk.
The unexpected second chapter in the Haircut One Hundred story gathered pace in 2024 when their first single in forever, The Unloving Plum, became BBC Radio 2’s Record of the Week, recalling the early Eighties’ days of Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl), Love Plus One, Fantastic Day and Nobody’s Fool.
Now that comeback steps up a gear as the Londoners announce Boxing The Compass for release on March 20 2026.
This morning, they launched the album alongside the premiere of new single Dynamite on Scott Mills’s show on BBC Radio 2, when also revealing details of their first full UK headline tour since 2023.
Boxing The Compass will be only the second album from the classic line-up since 1982’s platinum-certified Pelican West, a number two hit that was followed by 1984’s Paint And Paint, by then without frontman Heyward.
Heyward (vocals/guitar), Graham Jones (guitar) and Les Nemes (bass) first reconvened to discuss issues around the band, but that business meeting felt more like a reunion of old friends.
Matters soon snowballed from an “unforgettable” comeback gig at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London, to a full UK headline tour, with drummer Blair Cunningham subsequently jumping back on board. That 15-date Haircut 100% Live tour concluded at York Barbican on November 17 2023, again their only Yorkshire destination.
The album cover artwork for Haircut One Hundred’s Boxing The Compass, out on May 20 next year
Subsequent writing and recording sessions with Dexys’ band member Sean Read at Famous Times studio in East London showed that they “still shared that special something”.
“Their flair for a classic, melody-rich pop song was firmly intact, along with a host of fresh influences that they had never had the chance to explore together,” their publicity machine says. “And despite the passing of four decades, their boyish charm is still luminous – surely because each member is grateful for having a second chance with their old friends.”
Heyward, now 64, says: “Boxing The Compass is the traditional way of finding out where you are on land or sea using the compass rose. We’re arriving back at the port we left 43 years ago with a log of songs from our personal travels.
“Wherever I’ve been in the world, I’ve always been Nick Heyward of Haircut One Hundred and we’re all ready to set sail again for more adventures on the high seas.”
New single Dynamite is “the sound of a band who are relishing being back, their famous instant pop addictiveness now flavoured by classic disco guitar hooks, rousing brass and jazzy flourishes,” today’s press blurb states.
“Its feelgood fervour is amplified by Nick’s bright, charismatic vocals with a lyric that explains itself on a song that made a big impression when it was debuted throughout the band’s recent North American tour.”
Heyward adds: ”Dynamite is about the day and the night and meeting via satellite. Whether it’s your soul mate, long-lost family members, future friends, or your people. It’s about communication and how explosive it can be. It really is dynamite.”
Boxing The Compass will be released on CD, vinyl and digital formats and can be pre-ordered at https://slinky.to/BoxingTheCompass.
The track list will be: Vanishing Point; The Unloving Plum; That’s A Start; Dynamite; Come Back To Me; Someone; A Wonderful Life; Soul Bird; Raincloud and Sunshine.