Manchester-born poet, writer, and producer Antony Szmierek today announces his second album, Decoding Birdsong, arriving 21st August via Mushroom Music / Virgin Music Group. Just eighteen months after his critically acclaimed debut, Szmierek returns with a new body of work that signals a clear evolution in both sound and scope. Rooted in his personal touchstones within electronic music, the album pairs expansive, immersive production with his trademark razor-sharp lyricism.
Alongside the news, he shares new single ‘Chalk’, an expansive, sawtoothed electro track inspired by the snooker documentary Ronnie O’Sullivan: The Edge of Everything. In his words, “it’s about the idea that chalking a cue makes a marginal difference to the outcome – a metaphor for chaos theory and the win-or-lose nature of the music industry.”
The track premiered this morning on Lauren Laverne’s BBC 6 Music show and will appear on the upcoming album alongside his recent disco-inflected house single, ‘The Heron’ — a nod to his avian companion Ken, a 1920s taxidermied bird that also features on the album artwork.
Decoding Birdsong follows the wild success of his debut album, 2025’s Service Station at the End of the Universe, which launched Antony into a whirlwind of Glastonbury, Jools Holland, and repeat BBC airplay. He’s sold out venues across the UK and Europe, and in February 2026 performed to 20,000 while closing Solomun’s Alexandra Palace shows. The former English teacher had been working at a college for special needs students when his blend of spoken word and dance music started taking off, earning him accolades such as 6Music’s Artist of the Year in 2023 following his Poems To Dance To EP, and frequent comparisons to Mike Skinner, Jarvis Cocker and John Cooper Clarke.
Service Station at the End of the Universe was rooted in Greater Manchester, its locals and landmarks, such as the Stockport Pyramid. And he began feeling the consequences of that: suddenly, everyone knew his name at the pub – on some days, that felt good; on others it made him feel like he was in The Truman Show. Feeling like something needed to change after a year of experiencing the industry’s high highs and low lows, Antony recently relocated to Bristol, trading the familiar for distance and peace. Decoding Birdsong was made in his new home city, with his long-time collaborator Max Rad.
Where his debut had been a solo endeavour, Decoding Birdsong brims with collaboration, including Australia’s Pretty Girl, London band Los Bitchos, and Bristol producer 1-800 GIRLS, as well as Imogen and the Knife and indie pop star Ellur.
Speaking about the new record, Antony explains “Decoding Birdsong is about choosing to believe in something. Coincidence as a religion. Making your own luck in the face of loneliness and doubt. The smallest things can feel seminal, seismic and life affirming if you just choose to lean in, but it also asks if this is a dangerous way to live.
What happens when your numbers come in? What are the consequences of luck? Should you listen to the birds, or are you only ever going to hear what you want to hear? To help us explore this: a heron, dice, a plummeting airplane, the late-night TV show Aussie Gold Hunters and a fibreglass replica of Godzilla.”
In the wake of a run of European tour dates, and ahead of bringing his renowned live show — often described as a kind of communion — to the US for the first time, Antony Szmierek has also announced a UK headline tour for this autumn, including dates at London’s O2 Kentish Town Forum and Manchester Academy. He will also support The Streets on a run of dates this summer and appear as a special guest for John Cooper Clarke at his Manchester Apollo show in November. Full date listings are as follows:
07/05 — Schubas, Chicago, US
09/05 — Baby’s All Right, Brooklyn, US
15/05 — The Echo, Los Angeles, US
16/05 — Brick & Mortar Music Hall, San Francisco, US
27/05 — TRIX, Antwerp, Belgium
28/05 — Rotondes, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
29/05 — Melkweg, Amsterdam, Netherlands
30/05 — Dauwpop Festival, Hellendoorn, Netherlands
04/07 — Westival, Tenby, UK
10/07 — Castlefield Bowl (w/ The Streets), Manchester, UK
11/07 — Castlefield Bowl (w/ The Streets), Manchester, UK
24/07 — Kirkstall Abbey (w/ The Streets), Leeds, UK
13/08 — Sziget Festival, Budapest, Hungary
15/08 — Boomtown Festival, UK
21/08 — Rock N Roll Circus (w/ The Streets), Norwich, UK
28/08 — Big Feastival, UK
08/10 — O2 Academy Leeds, Leeds, UK
09/10 — The Level, Nottingham, UK
11/10 — Cambridge Junction, Cambridge, UK
12/10 — O2 Academy Oxford, Oxford, UK
14/10 — CHALK, Brighton, UK
15/10 — O2 Forum Kentish Town, London, UK
16/10 — O2 Academy Bournemouth, Bournemouth, UK
17/10 — O2 Academy Bristol, Bristol, UK
20/10 — Queen Margaret Union (QMU), Glasgow, UK
21/10 — Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK
23/10 — Manchester Academy, Manchester, UK
28/10 — The Button Factory, Dublin, IE
21/11 — Manchester Apollo (w/ John Cooper Clarke), Manchester, UK
