Big Special have shared their mournful new single ‘Dragged Up A Hill (And Thrown Down The Other Side)’.

The Black Country punk duo have released a tender piano ballad following their surprise album ‘National Average‘ this year.

It sees vocalist Joe Hicklin bear his soul with a raw vocal performance, admitting: “I still have this creeping feeling, that I’ve never tried / When you’re dragged up a hill, thrown down the other side”.

The band describe ‘Dragged Up A Hill’ as “a song written a while ago that we picked back out of our dusty drawer. It’s about the old labouring days and the feeling of getting nowhere in love and work, despite the graft. Disclaimer: Don’t listen whilst drunk.”

Take a listen to ‘Dragged Up A Hill’ below:

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Big Special are due to tour ‘National Average’ on their headline 2026 UK run.

Having wrapped up a string of dates opening for Pixies in the UK and their own European headline tour, Big Special are set to play a swathe of shows across the country including their biggest ever headline show at London’s Roundhouse.

GANS, Liz Lawrence and Good Health Good Wealth will support the band on UK shows – purchase any remaining tickets here and see below for all dates:

Big Special’s UK 2026 headline tour is:

FEBRUARY 
13 – Norwich, The Waterfront + 
14 – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms + 
15 – Newcastle, Digital + 
18 – Leeds, University Stylus + 
19 – Glasgow, SWG3 Warehouse + 
20 – Manchester, New Century Hall + 
21 – Birmingham, O2 Institute + 
24 – Bristol, Electric Bristol + 
25 – Southampton, The 1865 + 
27 – London, Roundhouse + * ^ 

MARCH 
6 – Dublin, The Workman’s Club 
7 – Belfast, Ulster Sports Club 

+ GANS 
* Liz Lawrence 
^ Good Health Good Wealth 

Elsewhere, we spoke to Big Special in 2023 about their song ‘Desperate Breakfast’ from their debut album ‘Post Industrial Hometown Blues‘.

“It’s about getting up, shovelling a breakfast down and going to do a day that you don’t want to do,” Hicklin told NME. “That’s the most common thing amongst us all. It’s about how shit the cycle of all that is. It exists whether you’ve got a job or not – it’s a cycle of desperation.”

Speaking about their previous jobs including as labourers, warehouse workers, Hicklin added: “We’ve done a bit of everything. This song is about being in a greasy spoon facing down all those bad jobs.”

“I have no negative feelings about it,” Moloney continued. “I actually have more respect for the people that do it than I do for anyone else because they don’t have a choice. Whatever is hard about this, we’re not digging holes, stacking shelves or serving some stuck-up bastard at a posh bar.”