Snow Patrol announce their first album as a trio, and date at Dublin's 3Arena

The Northern Irish band release their 8th studio album in September

It's a new dawn for one of Ireland's most famous bands as Snow Patrol are now officially a trio.

Following the sudden departure of Jonny Quinn and Paul Wilson last year, the core trio of Gary Lightbody, Nathan Connolly and Jonny McDaid have regrouped and recorded a new album.

It's called 'The Forest is the Path' and is released on September 13th.

The album is, according to the press release, "rooted in reflection, introspection and interrogation".

"I haven’t been in a relationship for a very long time, 10 years or more, so love from a distance to me meant the way a relationship sits in your memory from a distance of, say, 10 years," explained Gary Lightbody. "That’s not something I’d previously thought about as away to write about love. So it’s like, when you’re in love, you’re standing in the lobby of the Empire State Building. When you’ve broken up with that person, you’re out in the street. You can still see the building, but you’re not in there anymore. And when it’s 10 years later, now you’re standing in Brooklyn looking at the Manhattan skyline."

They'll kick off a UK and Ireland arena tour in February, which hits Dublin's 3Arena on February 25th and Belfast's SSE Arena on February 27th.

Tickets go on pre-sale (which you can access by pre-ordering the album) on Wednesday 5^th June at 10am and general sale on Friday 7^th June at 10am.