The Mission set April release for Songs For Kith And Kin and unveil Kindness Is A Weapon
The Mission have announced their first new studio album in more than a decade. Songs For Kith And Kin will arrive on 2 April 2027 via Cooking Vinyl, with new single Kindness Is A Weapon out now.
The 15-track double album was delayed after frontman Wayne Hussey underwent open-heart surgery. Hussey says that experience, and the period of recovery that followed, has fed directly into the record’s lyrics.
“It’s definitely had an influence lyrically: almost every song mentions ‘heart’,” Hussey says. “Really, the surgery has made me care even less what others think. I’m doing what I want to do in the new songs, what feels natural.”
Kindness Is A Weapon offers the first full indication of the album’s broad, guitar-led approach, pairing an insistent rhythm with the chiming interplay of Hussey and guitarist Simon Hinkler. The track had already appeared in a live form before the band’s hiatus, although its lyrics continued to evolve until the final recording sessions in June.
“On previous records, there’s always been one track I’ve always thought, yeah, this screams out to be the first single,” Hussey explains. “And I didn’t have that feeling on this record about a first single because there’s maybe seven or eight singles that could come from this album.”
He adds: “You can use kindness as a weapon for good, and you have to let things go at some point. Musically it’s got plenty of elements of classic Mission about it, but there’s elements of classic rock too. It maybe pushes the envelope a little bit for us in terms of sound, but at the same time, it’s also in keeping with what we’ve done in the past.”
Watch the lyric video for Kindness Is A Weapon here.
A 15-track record shaped by health, home and upheaval
Recorded by César Lamschtein at Faro House Studios in José Ignacio, Uruguay, with orchestral sessions completed in Montevideo, Songs For Kith And Kin was produced by Hussey. Craig Adams plays bass, while drummer Alex Baum makes his recorded debut with the band and co-writes Roll With The Punches.
Alongside its core two-guitar sound, the album incorporates keyboards, orchestral arrangements, sitar and tamboura. Hinkler says the chemistry between his playing and Hussey’s remains central to the record.
“There’s a chemistry with us that clicks and immediately sounds like The Mission,” says Hinkler. “Wayne and I have complementary styles that are very different around the edges and meet somewhere in the middle. People have observed that, when we both play the same guitar line simultaneously, something special happens.”
Hussey describes an album that moves from personal recovery and world events towards family, friendship and belonging. “I wanted to have an arc to the record,” he says. “I’ve never really been a political writer but a couple of the new songs are politically motivated. There’s a lot going on in the world that bothers the soul. It’s hard to ignore it all, so it’s bound to seep into the music.”
The full track listing
- Kith And Kin
- Operation Chaos
- Arrhythmia
- Never Say Never Say Die
- Kindness Is A Weapon
- Circle The Wagons
- Heavy (Is The Crown)
- Roll With The Punches
- Unbroken (asongoflove)
- Diving For Pearls
- Cleansing The Wound
- A Soft Place To Fall
- My Very Favourite Life
- Sanctuary
- The Last Leaf On The Tree
Songs For Kith And Kin will be released digitally, on CD and in limited-edition vinyl formats. Pre-order the album here.
London anniversary shows
The announcement arrives as The Mission prepare for four London shows celebrating 40 years of debut album God’s Own Medicine. Each night at O2 Forum Kentish Town will feature a different career-spanning set and separate support acts.
- 4 November 2026 – O2 Forum Kentish Town, London
- 5 November 2026 – O2 Forum Kentish Town, London
- 6 November 2026 – O2 Forum Kentish Town, London
- 7 November 2026 – O2 Forum Kentish Town, London
More The Mission on Punkinfocus: The Mission Announce Line-Up For 40th Anniversary London Shows (June 2026)
