NEW ALBUM : COSMIC CROONER announces headline UK tour & releases new album 'European Vacation' today

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COSMIC CROONER ANNOUNCES HEADLINE UK TOUR

& RELEASES NEW ALBUM ‘EUROPEAN VACATION’

+ SHARES VIDEO FOR NEW SINGLE “IN LOVE”

“Rarely since Neil Hannon became The Divine Comedy has a singer inhabited a dapper personality so perfectly.

[European Vacation is] a travelogue taking in Tropicalia, downtempo and Sea Change-era Beck among the elegant grooves.”

★★★★ Classic Pop Magazine

“The elusive European artist evokes a bygone sophistication while sidestepping nostalgia,

creating something that feels timeless yet entirely present.” Complete Music Update

Enigmatic musician Cosmic Crooner has today released his stunning new album ‘European Vacation’ on LP, CD & digital formats [listen here] as well as sharing the video for new single “In Love” [watch here]. He has also announced a headline UK tour for October 2025, following his recent run of live dates as special guest of Mattiel.

Cosmic Crooner – Headline UK Tour

October 5 London, The Grace

October 6 Brighton, The Prince Albert

October 8 Liverpool, Kazimier Stockroom

October 9 Glasgow, The Hug & Pint

October 10 Newcastle, Zerox

The follow-up to Cosmic Crooner’s acclaimed 2023 debut ‘The Perks Of Being A Hypocrite,’ ‘European Vacation’ is a holiday for the senses, music that transports you somewhere more fabulous. Inspired by David Axelrod, Serge Gainsbourg, Marvin Gaye, and the golden age of Bossa Nova, the enigmatic European artist creates a vivid, luxurious sonic landscape, his evocative lyrics delivered with a raconteur’s wit. “I wanted to make a timeless album,” says Cosmic Crooner of his creation. “I love Brazilian music, progressive soul from the ‘70s and jazz. I’ve tried to incorporate my inspirations into this world.”

The base of the album was finished in just four days and recorded live, with no click track. As with his debut album, ‘European Vacation’ was produced by rising talent Pieter Vonk, with strings arranged by Trey Pollard (Foxygen, Faye Webster) and Jesse Kotansky (Adam Green, Willie J Healey.).

“I love the sound of a big orchestra, and Trey was amazing at bringing my dream arrangements to life,” enthuses,Cosmic Crooner. “The songs Jesse worked on have less ‘big’ arrangements, but they’re perfect for those songs and I love how Jesse played it all himself.”

The vocals on ‘European Vacation’ are as rich and expansive as you’d expect from someone called Cosmic Crooner – “I knew that if I called myself Cosmic Crooner I’d have to up my singing game,” he acknowledges. “I don’t take the term ‘crooner’ too seriously, but the singers I like are usually referred to as crooners: Scott Walker, Frank Sinatra, Roy Orbison.”

Films are a big inspiration, which is natural when songs like “Mosquito In The Photo Booth” and “The Balcony” are so rich in creating their own visual identity. An admirer of Italian and French cinema of the 1960s and ‘70s, with Antonioni’s movies a particular favourite, Cosmic Crooner says: “I like music that transports me to a different place, like good films can.”

That’s why he has directed the videos for ‘European Vacation’ too, a series of 16mm films whose stories are interlinked. The video for first single “Never Wear Your Own Merch” was shot in the south of Spain, fulfilling a longtime ambition, as the dapper Crooner reveals: “I lived there for a year when I was 19. As soon as I visited the area, it was so beautiful that I thought: ‘One day, I want to shoot a music video here.’ I was there listening to David Axelrod and, if I think of a holiday moment, that’s where I think about. I wanted to write music suitable to film there.”

If Cosmic Crooner’s songs have a base, it’s Crooners Bay, a dreamscape referred to in the tragicomic ‘Private Club’. “I sing about being stuck in Crooners Bay in Private Club,” he explains. “I say that I don’t want to be stuck there. But, when you hear the song, it’s clear that, really, you’d be happy to be stuck there. It’s a place where you can be sad. Feeling sad, it can be quite special.”

First glimpsed sending a postcard in the “Never Wear Your Own Merch” video, the other main protagonist throughout ‘European Vacation’ is fictional music journalist Jonathan Bonanza, ultimately celebrated in the Gainsbourg-esque “J. Bonanza”. “People always call me a music snob,” smiles Cosmic Crooner. “Jonathan Bonanza: he’s a real music snob. If you saw him at a gig, you’d think: ‘Oh, f*ck, Jonathan Bonanza is here…’ He was a lot of fun to create.”

The main character, of course, is Cosmic Crooner himself. Asked if he has any rules about what the character of Cosmic Crooner would and would not do and he responds: “I don’t think there are particular rules. Maybe the rule is to portray myself as a European popstar, from no particular country.” Cosmic Crooner’s identity is verifiable online, if you must. Really, though: why spoil the fun?

Cosmic Crooner has toured with Temples, Timber Timbre, Tempesst and most recently Mattiel, building a cult following across Europe.