Robert Smith teams up with his “favourite band” The Twilight Sad for bruising new single ‘Waiting For The Phone Call’

The Twilight Sad have marked their return with the brooding and intense single ‘Waiting For The Phone Call’ – featuring The Cure‘s Robert Smith – as well as announcing a UK and European headline tour for 2026.

The Scottish noise rockers, now made up of just frontman James Graham and guitarist Andy MacFarlane, have long been in The Cure’s orbit having supported them on a succession of world tours, and with Smith famously covering the band’s own ‘There’s A Girl In The Corner’ before they would later return the favour with a rendition of ‘M’. They’ll be joining The Cure again for a run of their huge UK and European outdoor dates next summer.

In 2016, Smith also hailed them as “the best band playing the best songs – consistently brilliant, emotional, intense, inspiring, entertaining”. Now, he’s jumped on the band’s long-awaited comeback track – described as “an autobiographical epic detailing a phone call you never want to arrive”.

“’Waiting For The Phone Call’ is about grief, love and mental illness,” said Graham. “These things took over my life and I became ill. I lost the person most important to me in one of the cruellest ways. I’ve always used writing as a method of processing and coping with my emotions. My emotions became a problem and I couldn’t control them, writing music with Andy… especially the past seven years had been both the escape and the opportunity to process and try and make sense of life.

“We’ve all been waiting on a phone call that can change our lives at some point. This unfortunately focuses on a phone call that you never want to have.”

This marks the band’s first new material since 2019’s acclaimed ‘It Won/t Be Like This All The Time’, with news of a follow-up record expected in the months ahead. The single also comes with news of a 2026 UK and European headline tour. Check out their full dates below and visit here for tickets and information.

APRIL 2026
Sunday 12 – Italy, Milan, Legend Club
Tuesday 14 – Switzerland, Zurich, Bogen F
Wednesday 15 – Germany, Munich, Ampere
Thursday 16 – Germany, Berlin, Gretchen
Saturday 18 – Denmark, Copenhagen, Loppen
Sunday 19 – Norway, Oslo, Parkteateret
Monday 20 – Sweden, Stockholm, Slaktkyrkan
Wednesday 22 – Germany, Hamburg, Grünspan
Thursday 23 – Netherlands, Utrecht, Tivolivredenburg Pandora Hall
Saturday 25 – Germany, Cologne, Gebäude 9
Sunday 26 – Belgium, Brussels, Rotonde – Botanique
Monday 27 – France, Paris, Le Trabendo
Wednesday 29 – UK, Bristol, Electric Bristol
Thursday 30 – UK, London, Roundhouse

MAY
Saturday 2 – UK, Manchester, New Century Hall
Sunday 3 – UK, Newcastle upon Tyne, Boiler Shop
Tuesday 5 – Scotland, Glasgow, Barrowlands
Saturday 9 – Ireland, Dublin, Button Factory

With The Cure:

JUNE 2026
Wednesday 24 – Cardiff, Blackweir Fields
Friday 26 – Dublin, Marley Park
Sunday 28 – Belfast, Belsonic

JULY 2026
Friday 10 – Germany, Berlin, Wuhlheide
Saturday 11 – Germany, Berlin, Wuhlheide
Sunday 12 – Germany, Berlin, Wuhlheide

Speaking to NME about their relationship with Robert Smith back in 2018, MacFarlane said: “He’s helped us in so many ways. He’s basically given us a whole new platform, and it’s only because he’s a fan of the band. He’s the most generous person ever. He’s so good to us.”

Graham added: “Most people like that would just play the gig and fuck off, but Robert really gives a fuck about the music he loves. If you’d told us five years ago that we’d become friends with Robert Smith to just go up to him and slag him and talk shite to him – it’s mind-blowing. He’s just a nice guy who wants people to do the best that he can.”

Renowned for their blistering live shows, the band hit immediate cult status when they arrived with the universally acclaimed and intense ‘Fourteen Autumns And Fifteen Winters’ in 2007, before growing in indie circles with ‘Forget The Night Ahead’ in 2009, 2012’s ‘No One Can Ever Know’ and the success of ‘Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants To Leave’ in 2014 before a five year wait for ‘It Won/t Be Like This All The Time’.

In a four-star review of ‘It Won/t Be Like This All The Time’, NME concluded: “Rather than being owned by their demons, The Twilight Sad have created an 11-track exorcism to master them. It’s a full-bodied and inescapable mood-piece, and a visceral account of their victory in the fight to exist. We should feel grateful to have them.”

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