Saul Williams Announces UK & EU Tour, Shares Striking New Video for “The Dagger”
Saul Williams is hitting the road.
Following the release of his first solo album in seven years, Leap Life, the genre-defying poet, musician and performer has announced a major run of UK and European headline dates for 2027 — including a London show at Islington Assembly Hall on March 14.
The tour announcement arrives alongside a new video for album highlight “The Dagger”, co-directed by Ibrahem Hasan and Karolina Wielocha. The visual arrives as Williams continues to expand the world of Leap Life, an ambitious record that blurs the boundaries between spoken word, hip-hop, jazz, electronic music and ritual.
Released last month via Big Dada, Leap Life has already attracted major critical acclaim. The Guardian hailed it as a “riveting return”, while UNCUT awarded the expansive double album 9/10 and called it a potential career-capping masterpiece. The Observer described Williams as a “bard, preacher and oracular storyteller”.
The new album is Williams’ return to Big Dada, the label that released his earliest solo work, and features an eclectic cast of collaborators including Moor Mother, Gonjasufi, Carlos Niño, Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack, Kamasi Washington and Georgia Anne Muldrow.
At the heart of Leap Life is Williams’ belief that “the voice is the instrument.” Drawing on ideas around ceremony, ancestry, resistance and healing, the album treats the human voice as something capable of carrying far more than words alone.
The album arrives alongside Williams’ first nonfiction book, Songs My Mother Taught Me, published by Haymarket Books. The book explores the question of what radicalises an artist, examining the writers, musicians and cultural figures who have shaped Williams’ political and creative outlook.
Now, with the album out and a new live chapter beginning, Williams is taking Leap Life to stages across the UK and Europe.
The tour kicks off in Ireland before travelling through Brighton, London, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow, with further dates across Scandinavia, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. A special birthday performance will also take place at New York’s Le Poisson Rouge on February 28.
Tickets for the newly announced dates go on sale Friday, September 11 at 10am local time.
Leap Life is out now via Big Dada.
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