BIG SPECIAL Drop Surprise Album NATIONAL AVERAGE.

The Black Country duo follows their acclaimed debut with NATIONAL AVERAGE. A surprise release launched via bold London art projections, delving into darker, funkier sounds and themes of personal and moral strain.

Black Country duo BIG SPECIAL have released their surprise new album NATIONAL AVERAGE. today via SO Recordings, following a series of striking artwork projections across major London landmarks including the Tate Modern and London Bridge.

The new record follows hot on the heels of their acclaimed 2023 debut POSTINDUSTRIAL HOMETOWN BLUES, which broke into the UK Top 40. Lead single ‘GOD SAVE THE PONY.’ arrives alongside a powerful new video, and the band are set to launch an intimate UK instore tour beginning tonight at London’s Rough Trade East.

Building on the raw punk energy and emotional intensity of their debut, NATIONAL AVERAGE. sees BIG SPECIAL’s Joe Hicklin and Callum Moloney explore themes of personal change, moral strain and brotherhood. The band’s sound expands into darker, funkier territories, without losing their trademark bellowing vocals and visceral lyricism.

Speaking about the new single, frontman Hicklin says: ‘GOD SAVE THE PONY.’ Is about the stones we carry. The different things that pull people down; the invisible weights that they have to drag through their everyday. On the personal level, it’s about reckoning with change. Reflecting on the moral obligations we have to ourselves and others and the mixture of the failures and successes in sticking to those. The weight of following a personal moral line is heavy on everyone’s shoulders. The song is a recognition of this strain in ourselves and others, and a well wish to keep going, whatever you have that drags behind."

NATIONAL AVERAGE. is available to stream now, with instore shows running throughout July and a full UK and European headline tour set for later this year and into 2026.