Nothing But Thieves announce fifth album ‘Stray Dogs’ out Sept 25 via RCA/Sony, plus their biggest ever world tour hitting the O2 and more
Ten years into a career that has taken them from the clubs of Southend to the top of the UK album charts, Nothing But Thieves are entering their most ambitious phase yet. On May 26, 2026, the five-piece announced their fifth studio album, ‘Stray Dogs,’ set for release on September 25 via RCA/Sony Music, alongside the euphoric lead single ‘Evolution’ and news of their biggest ever headline tour spanning the UK, Europe, and North America.
The announcement is the culmination of a week of deliberate, layered build-up. The band deployed guerrilla posters in cities across the UK, launched a four-day cryptic YouTube channel, played Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Sunderland, and then staged a secret show the following evening at Think Tank in Newcastle under the alias Stray Dogs. When ‘Evolution’ finally premiered on a global YouTube livestream attended by 250 fans in person and millions more online, the reveal had been earned. The single received its first radio play from Jack Saunders at Radio 1, completing a campaign that felt less like a standard promotional rollout and more like a genuine cultural event.
Back to Angelic Studios, Forward to Something New
Where ‘Dead Club City,’ their chart-topping 2023 fourth album, was forged partly on the road, ‘Stray Dogs’ took a different path. The band returned to Angelic Studios in Oxfordshire, the same rooms where they recorded their self-titled 2015 debut, and spent a concentrated five-month period writing and recording together as a unit. The result, they say, is their most liberating and cohesive work to date.
The thematic territory feels personal and earned. The album is built around ideas of community, belonging, and the shared experiences that bind outsiders together. The stray dogs of the title are, explicitly, the people inside Nothing But Thieves’ own world: bandmates, crew, and the dedicated fanbase that has followed them across four continents.
We’ve spent some time trying to work out what’s real and tangible about who we are and how we use our time,” the band said in a statement. “The people we travel the world with, the human moments on stage, the connection we make with those who come to our shows. That’s real. It’s a bit of a love letter to the people in our world in that way”
‘Evolution,’ the lead single, delivers that sentiment with urgency rather than sentimentality. Fast-paced and melodic, it combines soaring vocals with driving guitars and a restless forward momentum that places it squarely in the tradition of anthemic British rock without sounding nostalgic. The band describe it as “not too concerned about finality,” and there is something galvanizing about a song that refuses to settle into resolution. “Imperfection and authenticity is becoming ever more valuable,” they added, “and it’s definitely something we’re drawn to.”
The Biggest Tour of Their Lives
To mark the new era, Nothing But Thieves will headline venues across the UK, Europe, and North America in early 2027, in what the band have confirmed is their biggest tour to date. The run opens in Paris at the Zénith on January 12 before moving through Cologne, Amsterdam, Zurich, Munich, and a full sweep of major European cities. The UK and Ireland leg in February includes London’s O2 Arena, Manchester’s Co-Op Live, Dublin’s 3Arena, and Glasgow’s OVO Hydro. North American dates follow in late March and April, taking in New York’s Brooklyn Paramount, Los Angeles’ Hollywood Palladium, and Toronto’s Massey Hall, among others.
Before that, the band will support Biffy Clyro at outdoor shows in London and Edinburgh this summer and continue their festival run. A band with four Top 10 UK albums and billions of streams behind them, Nothing But Thieves are not approaching ‘Stray Dogs’ as a course correction. They are approaching it as a statement. The O2 will confirm whether that confidence is warranted. Based on the evidence of ‘Evolution,’ there is very little reason to doubt them.
