Posts Tagged ‘Dagger’

Watch: ‘Obligations’ by IST IST

Posted: 9 January 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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As their highly anticipated fifth album DAGGER rears into view, IST IST have shared its final pre-emptive single ‘Obligations’.

With its pulsating bassline, driving beats, and synth throbs, ‘Obligations’ is the enlivening new track from Manchester’s finest. Embodying the metamorphosis of IST IST as they gear-up for the next stage in their evolution, this latest cut is fittingly all about transformation and sacrifices that can come with it.

As vocalist Adam Houghton says:

“With ‘Obligations’, I wanted to capture the feeling of being bound to someone who represents both your salvation and your undoing. It’s about how love can feel like duty — something you can’t walk away from even when it hurts. I wanted to explore memory as something that both comforts and strangles, showing how the past can shape who we become. By the end, the narrator isn’t whole anymore, but they’ve accepted that pain and change are part of survival. It’s about transformation through loss — the quiet resilience of being altered by love.”

The new single arrives with a thought provoking official video featuring artist and longtime friend of the band Oliver Marson. Tuning into the track’s integral lyric “What is left is a different version of me”, we find Marson portraying an alternate version of the IST IST frontman.

Watch the video here:

Following a short stretch of European and UK shows this Autumn, IST IST will be hitting the road again in April this year, with upcoming shows in Norwich, Exeter, Oxford, Newcastle, Sheffield, Nottingham, Bristol, Brighton, PLUS recently added dates in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and London. These shows will pave the way towards their biggest hometown show to date, at Manchester’s Albert Hall in May. All dates are listed below, with all tickets on sale now.

In addition, IST IST are delighted to confirm a short series of intimate in-store/out-store shows as they launch their new album DAGGER. Catch them at these dates and venues:

IST IST – 2026 UK & IRELAND TOUR DATES

UK IN-STORE ALBUM LAUNCH SHOWS

Leeds – Headroom House – 07.02.26

Bury – The Met – 08.02.26

Edinburgh – The Caves – 09.02.26

Nottingham – Rough Trade – 10.02.26

London – Rough Trade East – 11.02.26

EUROPEAN SHOWS

Antwerp – Kafka Oudaan – 11.03.26

Cologne – Luxor – 12.03.26

Amsterdam – Paradiso – 14.03.26

Frankfurt – Das Bett – 15.03.26

Zurich – Werk 21 – 16.03.26

Milan – Santeria Toscana 31 – 17.03.26

Budapest – Durer Kert – 19.03.26

Bratislava – Pink Whale – 20.03.26

Krakow – Klub Zascianek – 22.03.26

Warsaw – Hydrozadka – 23.03.26

Berlin – Hole 44 – 24.03.26

Esbjerg – Tobakken – 26.03.26

Oslo – Parkteatret – 27.03.26

Stockholm – Kollektivet – 29.03.26

Hamburg – Logo – 31.03.26

UK HEADLINE SHOWS

Norwich – Waterfront – 09.04.26

London – The Garage – 10.04.26

Exeter – Phoenix – 11.04.26

Oxford – O2 Academy 2 – 12.04.26

Newcastle – The Grove – 16.04.26

Glasgow – Oran Mor – 17.04.26

Sheffield – Network – 18.04.26

Nottingham – Rescue Rooms – 23.04.26

Bristol – Thekla – 24.04.26

Brighton – Quarters – 25.04.26

Dublin – The grand Social – 28.04.26

Belfast – Ulster Sports Club – 29.04.26

Manchester – Albert Hall – 01.05.26

(w/ Support from DESPERATE JOURNALIST + THE YOUTH PLAY)

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Photo by Thomas White

Watch: ‘Warning Signs’ by IST IST

Posted: 26 November 2025 in Singles and EPs, Recommended Streams and Videos
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IST IST are back with the infectious new single ‘Warning Signs’.

One of the most urgent, immediate and irrepressible tracks the band have delivered to date, ‘Warning Signs’ is a lightning bolt of realisation and unrequited love. 
Of the track, vocalist Adam Houghton says:

‘”I wanted to write from a place of regret — that gut-wrenching moment when you realise pride and fear have cost you the person you love. The song is a confession and a plea, filled with what-ifs and too-lates. I wanted the repetition and directness to feel desperate, like someone haunted by what they didn’t say soon enough. It’s about confronting the pain of being without the one who grounded you and understanding too late that love requires vulnerability. The goal was to make the emotion feel raw, honest, and painfully human.”

New single ‘Warning Signs’ is an unignorable reminder of the band’s highly awaited fifth album Dagger, as produced by Joe Cross (Hurts, Courteeners, Slow Readers Club). It arrives on 6 February 2026, via the band’s own Kind Violence Records.

The new track comes complete with an official video shot by Joyce Van Doorn and edited by Shaolin Pete. Featuring live and backstage footage from IST IST’s triumphant recent tour of Europe, it’s a tantalising reminder for what’s to come at their upcoming UK comeback shows, which kick-off this week in Leeds, Glasgow, London, and Birmingham (28th November – 6th December, check dates below).

IST IST will also be hitting the road again in April 2026, with additional shows in Norwich, Exeter, Oxford, Newcastle, Sheffield, Nottingham, Bristol, and Brighton, paving the way towards their biggest hometown show to date, at Manchester’s Albert Hall in May. All dates are listed below, with all tickets on sale now.

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IST IST  – 2025/26 EUROPE & UK TOUR DATES

Friday 28th November – Leeds – Warehouse

Saturday 29th November – Glasgow – Oran Mor

Friday 5th December – London – 229

Saturday 6th December – Birmingham – O2 Academy2

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THURSDAY 9th APRIL – NORWICH – THE WATERFRONT ** JUST ADDED **

SATURDAY 11th APRIL – EXETER PHOENIX ** JUST ADDED **

SUNDAY 12th APRIL – OXFORD – 02 ACADEMY2 ** JUST ADDED **

THURSDAY 16th APRIL – NEWCASTLE – THE GROVE ** JUST ADDED **

SATURDAY 18th APRIL – SHEFFIELD • NETWORK  ** JUST ADDED **

THURSDAY 23rd APRIL – NOTTINGHAM • RESCUE ROOMS ** JUST ADDED **

FRIDAY 24th APRIL  – BRISTOL – THEKLA ** JUST ADDED **

SATURDAY 25th APRIL – BRIGHTON – QUARTERS ** JUST ADDED **

Friday 1st May 2026 – Manchester – Albert Hall
w/ Support from DESPERATE JOURNALIST + THE YOUTH PLAY