BIG SPECIAL Continue Their Breakthrough with a Highly Anticipated 12/7 Chicago Show

BIG SPECIAL Continue Their Breakthrough with a Highly Anticipated 12/7 Chicago Show

Photo Credit: Isaac Watson

Birmingham, UK duo BIG SPECIAL continue their unstoppable rise with the release of their new single, “DRAGGED UP A HILL (and thrown down the other side),” out via SO Recordings. The track highlights vocalist Joe Hickin’s raw, emotionally charged delivery, offering a glimpse at a more vulnerable side of the band.

Regarding the single, Hicklin notes it’s… “a song written a while ago that we picked back out of our dusty drawer, about the old labouring days and the feeling of getting nowhere in love and work, despite all the graft.” Adding a disclaimer, “Don’t listen when drunk.”

The release follows a milestone run for BIG SPECIAL, who recently completed a major European tour and teamed up with Sleaford Mods for “The Good Life,” appearing alongside Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones, Star Wars) in a striking one-shot video. Next up, they’ve launched a series of North American dates that began December 1, supporting Public Service Broadcasting with select headlining shows in Chicago and Boston (full routing below).

Rooted in a lifelong friendship, BIG SPECIAL have built their sound around unflinching honesty, dark humor, and a shared sense of purpose. Their creative partnership remains the core engine of a project that continues to evolve with clarity and conviction.

Their ascent has been nothing short of remarkable — from selling out Camden’s Dublin Castle with only one song released, to headlining London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town less than two years later on the strength of their debut album, POSTINDUSTRIAL HOMETOWN BLUES. Their new album, NATIONAL AVERAGE, captures both the velocity of their rise and the emotional weight behind it.

Ultimately, BIG SPECIAL’s story is one of grit, brotherhood, and the reminder that ambition and hardship often run side by side.

Tour Dates:

12/01 – Seattle, WA @ The Neptune Theatre ^

12/03 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore ^

12/04 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent ^

12/07 – Chicago, IL @ Cobra Lounge

12/08 – Boston, MA @ The Rockwell

12/09 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza ^

12/11 – Toronto, ON @ The Concert Hall ^

02/13 – Norwich, UK @ Waterfront

02/14 – Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms

02/15 – Newcastle, UK @ Digital

02/18 – Leeds, UK @ University Stylus

02/19 – Glasgow, UK @ SWG3 Warehouse

02/20 – Manchester, UK @ New Century Hall

02/21 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute

02/24 – Bristol, UK @ Electric Bristol

02/25 – Southampton, UK @ The 1865

02/27 – London, UK @ Roundhouse

03/06 – Dublin, UK @ The Workman’s Club

03/07 – Belfast, UK @ Ulster Sports Club

^ supporting Public Service Broadcasting

About BIG SPECIAL:

Life comes at you fast. Just ask BIG SPECIAL. On the evening of August 9, 2023, the duo – Joe Hicklin and Callum Moloney – walked onstage storied Camden boozer the Dublin Castle for their first headlining gig in the capital. The duo had only a single release to their name: the majestic, cathartic, existential bellow of “Shithouse.” The Big Special story had barely begun.

Fast-forward 20 or so months later, however, and Hicklin and Moloney are again onstage, this time at the O2 Forum Kentish Town, sweat-drenched and bathing in the rapture as the biggest headline show of their career so far draws to a triumphant close. They’re looking out at 2,300 or so fans, hands aloft, a fraction of the following that have been drawn by the righteous missives and unflinching poetry of their acclaimed debut album POSTINDUSTRIAL HOMETOWN BLUES. As Moloney notes, the Forum is only a kilometer walk away from the Dublin Castle. But the distance Big Special have covered between those two shows is far greater than can be plotted on a map.

The journey between those poles, from then to now, is one of the key stories told by their second album, NATIONAL AVERAGE. And trust Big Special to invest those stories with wisdom, insight, the blackest humor and the most absolute humanity. And these might be their stories, but the lessons speak to us all.

They’ve been friends for decades, first crossing paths while studying music BTECs in Walsall during their late-teens where they formed a band. It didn’t happen for them – not then, anyway.

But this backstory still grounds them now. Then, during lockdown, with endless days of nothingness stretching out before them, they took another swing at that dream. Before, Hicklin had sung his poetry over acoustic guitar strum; now, he felt an urge to scream these words, loud and true, over a noise that would match them. Moloney stepped up to once again throw in his lot with his dear friend. Of course, he always believed in Hicklin. And once he heard the lyrics to “Shithouse,” to “This Here Ain’t Water,” which spoke so eloquently and elementally of their lives, their mental health struggles, their dreams and the obstacles that lie before them, he knew that faith was well-placed.

Upon its May 2024 release, the debut album POSTINDUSTRIAL HOMETOWN BLUES was baptized with acclaim; Big Special found their audience, and then expanded it, and then expanded it, and then expanded it further. The work was hard, but the rewards came fast.

And so NATIONAL AVERAGE. reflects the world as it is, as Big Special have seen it while grinding around the nation and screaming their poetry at the people. The album also registers how their own lives, their own world has changed, and what that means. “We’ve finally got a taste of everything we ever wanted,” says Moloney, “and we’re loving it. But every silver lining has a cloud with it. Mental health isn’t situational. You can be living the dream, and still be depressed along the way.”

With characteristic BIG SPECIAL flair, the darkness is leavened by more than a ladle-full of the blackest humor.

But the upbeats are easily matched by the album’s downbeats, the album’s emotional shifts more crafted than on the debut. “The first half of the album is about ambition – you can hear the confidence of it, even a little bit of sleaze,” says Hicklin. “The second half is about reflecting on what’s happened, how everything’s changed. You’ve got to be honest with the darkness.”

Moving forward remains BIG SPECIAL’s ethos, pressing on through changes big and small, staying true to who they are without betraying the truth of who they might become, thankful for the energy and insight that’s driven their mission this far, and will fuel whatever comes next.

Brotherhood is key. “There’s only ever been two people in BIG SPECIAL,” Hicklin says, “so we’re the only two people who get it, what this unique experience has been. The intensity of our relationship is good. In a lot of ways, we’ve just been lucky, and things lined up so that we’re able to do this. It’s not some fucking divine thing – we’re just good at what we do, and we’ve got a good team. We should respect the craft, respect the audience, and do the best we can, so we can keep on doing it.”

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Links:

Official: https://bigspecial.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bigspecialmusic/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigspecial_/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bigspecial_