In April 2025 the Nightingales released a new album “The Awful Truth” and were due to embark on a UK tour shortly afterwards before a serious illness interjected and fucked up the year’s plans. The album came out via Fire Records who were responsible for the deluxe reissues of the band’s earlier records plus the “King Rocker” movie by Stewart Lee but “The Awful Truth” was the first all new album for the label.

Recorded in a remote spot in the old DDR, the album contains 13 songs produced by the band’s bassist Andreas Schmid and comes packaged in a beautiful sleeve featuring a painting by Tomasso Salini.

It is the Nightingales’ first release since September 2023’s “Live In Balsall Heath”, a (now sold out) limited edition double LP which is an unadulterated 68 minute document of a live show that the ‘Gales played in Birmingham, augmented by guest musicians, including sax god Terry Edwards. Following a fairly fallow 2024/25 the glorious Gales are ready to rock n roll afresh in 2026. Now augmented by sublime Brummie super talent Natalie Mason – “The sparkling cherry on the icing of pop music’s tastiest cake” (BBC 6music) – the Fab Five will be banging out a bunch of deadly performances in 2026, including three special Irish dates in May with comedian Ted Chippington.