UK singer-songwriter Naima Bock is following up her fantastic 2022 solo debut with her second album, Below a Massive Dark Land, on September 27 via Sub Pop. She’s shared two songs from the album and also announced a few US dates.
Below a Massive Dark Land was made with producers Jack Osborne (Bingo Fury) and Joe Jones, and recorded at The Crypt in north London, with additional production and arrangement by Oliver Hamilton (caroline, Shovel Dance Collective) and Naima herself. After working closely with Joel Burton on her debut, Giant Palm, Bock says that her second album was a bit of a learning process. “After me and Joel stopped working together,” she says, “it was an impossibility to even fathom doing arrangements myself, but then I started learning violin. Playing it isn’t easy but writing melodies on it is. I think I needed it, to be able to feel proud of something. Like, that’s me! That feels good.”
The two songs she’s shared are the soulful, brassy “Kaley,” and the spare, folky “Further Away.” Says Naima, “‘Kaley’ was written whilst staying at a friend’s house in Tucson, or at least it was finished there. It’s about betrayal and the subsequent lack of direction that follows. At the time there was no ‘plan’ or ‘way’ that I had for myself, let alone anyone else.” As for “Further Away,” she says it was written in Greece “whilst trying to learn mini Bouzouki and missing someone.”
You can watch the video for “Kaley,” where Naima plays multiple roles, and the visualizer for “Further Away” below.
Naima has a few US dates scattered throughout the late summer and fall, hitting California in August, the Pacific Northwest in September and the Northeast in October. The NYC show happens at Union Pool on October 25, and tickets for most US shows go on sale Friday, June 28 at 10 AM local time. All dates are listed below.
Below A Massive Dark Land
1. Gentle
2. Kaley
3. Feed My Release
4. My Sweet Body
5. Lines
6. Further Away
7. Takes One
8. Age
9. Moving
10. Star
Naima Bock – 2024 Tour Dates
Wed. Aug. 14 – St. Malo, FR – La Route Du Rock +
Thu. Aug. 22 – Los Angeles, CA – Barnsdall Gallery Theatre ^
Sat. Aug. 24 – Ojai, CA – TBA
Mon. Sep. 08 – Portland, OR – Music Millennium (instore)
Fri. Sep. 13 – Walla Walla, WA – Billsville West
Sun. Sep. 15 – Seattle, WA – The Rabbit Box
Mon. Oct. 21 – Boston, MA – Warehouse XI
Wed. Oct. 23 – Philadelphia, PA – The Parish Room (First Unitarian Church
Fri. Oct. 25 – Brooklyn, NY – Union Pool
Wed. Nov. 06 – London, UK – St. Pancras Old Church +
Thu. Nov. 07 – Bristol, UK – Jam Jar *
Fri. Nov. 08 – Liverpool, UK – Leaf *
Sat. Nov. 09 – Newcastle, UK – Cumberland Arms *
Sun. Nov. 10 – Glasgow, UK – McChuills *
Tue. Nov. 12 – Leeds, UK – Hyde Park Book Club *
Wed. Nov. 13 – Manchester, UK – Deaf Institute *
Thu. Nov. 14 – Cambridge, UK – Storey’s Field Centre *
Sat. Nov. 16 – Falmouth, UK – The Cornish Bank *
Sun. Nov. 17 – Frome, UK – The Tree House *
Mon. Nov. 18 – Exeter, UK – Cavern Club *
Wed. Nov. 20 – Ipswich, UK – St Stephens Church *
Thu. Nov. 21 – London, UK – The Ivy House *
Tue. Dec. 03 – Lille, FR – L ‘Aéronef *
Wed. Dec. 04 – Brugge, BE – Cactus Café *
Fri. Dec. 06 – Haldern, DE – Pop Bar *
Sat. Dec. 07 – Hamburg, DE – Nachstasyl *
Sun. Dec. 08 – Berlin, DE – Neu Zunkunft *
Tue. Dec. 10 – Cologne, DE – Subway *
Wed. Dec. 11 – Amsterdam, NL – Pasradiso *
Thu. Dec. 12 – Brussels, BE – Botanique *
Fri. Dec. 13 – Paris, FR – La Boule Noire *
^ w/ Angelo De Augustine
* Full band show
+ Duo with Oliver Hamilton