Sam Tompkins Announces New Album “ARE WE GONNA SING?” for September
Sam Tompkins is preparing to turn one of the most personal periods of his life into his second full-length album. The British singer-songwriter has announced “ARE WE GONNA SING?,” a 12-track project scheduled for release on September 4, 2026, through Island Records. The album follows his 2024 debut, hi, my name is insecure., and arrives with a new single titled “Crawling Out My Skin.”
For Tompkins, the announcement represents more than the beginning of another promotional cycle. The record was created after the death of his father in late 2023 and explores grief, unstable relationships, career uncertainty and the difficult process of finding joy again.
When Is ARE WE GONNA SING? Coming Out?
ARE WE GONNA SING? will be released on September 4, 2026. Tompkins’ official store lists the project as a 12-track album, while Apple Music identifies it as an Island release issued under exclusive licence to Universal Music Operations Limited. The album is Tompkins’ second studio LP. His debut introduced a vulnerable pop and R&B sound built around emotional directness, but the new project appears positioned as a more collaborative and organic step forward. He made the record with producer and artist Humble the Great, using live instrumentation and a jam-oriented creative process. Rather than constructing every song through isolated studio sessions, the collaborators worked toward performances that preserved the feeling of musicians responding to one another in the moment.
That approach could give the album a different physical character from Tompkins’ earlier material. His voice remains the emotional centre, but the surrounding arrangements appear designed to feel lived-in rather than excessively polished.
“Crawling Out My Skin” Introduces the Album
The announcement arrived alongside “Crawling Out My Skin,” an upbeat but reflective single written at the end of a songwriting camp in Norfolk. Tompkins and his collaborators recorded the song outdoors in a garden using a laptop, preserving the spontaneity of the original session. The singer has explained that the track is about recognizing the value of ordinary stability—the periods when life is not collapsing, even when nothing spectacular is happening. That idea gives “Crawling Out My Skin” an unusual emotional balance. Its title suggests discomfort, but its message is rooted in appreciation. Instead of chasing a dramatic breakthrough, Tompkins examines how difficult it can be to notice peace while it is actually present. The song follows previously released tracks “Beauty Queen” and “Body to Body,” both of which are connected to the emerging album campaign. Tompkins’ official website currently highlights those releases alongside the ARE WE GONNA SING? preorder.
Together, the singles suggest an album interested in emotional contrast: intimacy beside uncertainty, gratitude beside grief and optimism that does not pretend pain has disappeared.
The Album Title Comes From Tompkins’ Father
The meaning behind ARE WE GONNA SING? gives the project its most affecting detail. The title comes from an old home video included on the album’s closing track, “Live Where I Don’t Lose You.” In the recording, Tompkins’ father asks, “Are we gonna sing?” The moment connects the album directly to family memory while giving the title a sense of invitation rather than finality. It also changes the way the album can be understood. The phrase is casual and affectionate, but within the context of loss, it becomes a question about whether music can preserve a relationship after someone is gone.
Tompkins has written openly about insecurity and emotional pain before. This record appears to move that honesty into a more specific space, examining grief without allowing it to become the album’s only identity.
Why This Album Could Mark a Turning Point
Tompkins first developed his audience through busking and emotionally exposed online performances before signing with Island Records. His vocal style—moving between a soulful upper register and a grounded, conversational delivery—helped songs such as “Lose It All” and “Time Will Fly” travel well beyond their original release cycles.
ARE WE GONNA SING? gives him an opportunity to convert that recognition into a more defined album era. The announced 12-song format is focused enough to support a clear narrative, while the live instrumentation may help distinguish the project within a crowded field of confessional pop. Its September release also gives Tompkins time to develop the campaign through additional singles, performances and visual material. He will support the record with seven intimate UK and European shows in October. Confirmed stops include Dublin, London, Birmingham, Manchester, Cologne and Paris, placing the concerts shortly after the album’s arrival.
The title asks a simple question, but the album surrounding it appears built from complicated emotions. For Tompkins, singing is not presented as an escape from grief. It is a way of carrying memory forward while making room for the possibility that life can still become joyful again.
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