Miller Campbell: UK Tour & "For You"
After a year of listening to Miller Campbell, we're getting a chance to see her headline a show with her trio in central London.
I first heard of Miller Campbell last summer when I came across one of her catchiest hits, Runaway Arms, on either Spotify or Instagram. It struck me immediately as the sort of pure pop-rock song that I listened to endlessly as a teenager. It called to mind the Bangles, the Go-Gos and Tom Petty.
It was summer-time music, typically bright, loud, upbeat and Californian or at least somehwere a lot sunnier than northern England. The video sealed the deal: Miller was having such enormous fun blasting out these songs that I immediately bought into her music. Her voice is just so loud and clear somehow. She’s a natural.
I knew Miller had spent the winter working on a new album, only her second, and I was keen to hear more. Then, a few weeks ago, she released the first track off that album, For You. I understand it was written a while ago, alongside some songs from her self-titled debut album but it feels darker, sadder. There is often a wistful melancholy behind Miller’s songs.
Sometimes when I’m driving all alone again,
I get in my head
Sometimes when I see the city lights in bed,
I remember when the lights just felt like ours
When we said goodbye
Oh you’re still the only one on my mind
Her songs are lively and bright and are best played very loud. But they often speak of separation, of distance, or heartbreak. It’s a kind of sad angriness that makes it more believable and totally human, totally her. She’s annoyed but still sad while also preparing herself for another round.
For You captured my imagination rightaway, not least because she chose to put a famous London bridge on the cover. Not ‘the’ London Bridge, of course (this has caused confusion in America in times gone by) but Tower Bridge, the one with the famous roadway that lifts up for boats. It’s a winter song, a winter photograph, and it just grows on you the more you listen. It is achingly sad, almost haunting, and the perfect song for a city snowstorm.
Every night I told you all my pretty lies,
It would buy me time
From falling back asleep without you waking next to me,
I think of when
The lights just felt like ours
Miller was one of the first artists to really latch onto my writing last year, and we would message every couple of months. When I heard she was coming to London this month for a short tour of the UK, Ireland and Sweden, the first thing I did was buy a ticket for the Holborn show on August 5th. The second thing I did was try to get hold of her for a short chat. I just asked the most obvious questions I could think of that I had not seen answered anywhere else.
What do you enjoy most about touring in the UK?
Miller: “I love touring over there so much because I think UK audiences tend to dive deeper into the music. They always ask more questions about the lyrics and the meanings behind songs. They look up the catalogue. They seem really involved when they go out to see an artist. It’s a lot less of a passive experience when I play there.”
Why did you choose London’s Tower Bridge for the artwork on For You?
Miller: “I chose Tower Bridge for the artwork because I love the iconography of it. I took that photo when I was in London on my very first tour run. And so it was winter, it was cold, it was gray. And I was just kind of like scrolling through and this is exactly what I was writing about. And I didn’t really realize it. That feeling of just... you’re alone but with a lot of people around you.”
What can you tell us about the second album?
Miller: “So you know that For You is the first single. The second single is a cover of a Radiohead song called Let Down… I’m so excited! The rest of the record is going to roll out through the fall and winter. It’s ready to go.”
Are you all ready for the tour?
Miller: “It’s going to be a really intimate, fabulous show. It’s a presentation of the album and a really great preview of what’s to come. And it’s your chance to get to see it up close and personal versus on some of the other tour runs. It’s a different type of venue. I’m going to bring a trio for sure.”
Miller was calling from her log cabin, I kid you not, deep in the Montana hills, or woodlands, or… just imagine wilderness. She lives in the middle of nowhere and seems full of energy, happy and relaxed there. It’s the perfect antidote to life on the road and in the big cities.
The London gig will be Miller’s only London headline show in 2026 and it will be an intimate evening at the air-conditioned (phew!) Pizza Express Live venue in Holborn. She is bringing a trio, including a drum kit, so you will get the full pop-rock Miller Campbell experience. I have seen her live at Bush Hall doing a solo show and that was seriously impressive. Her voice really shines in that context, but I am beyond excited to see her with the band this summer.
You can still grab tickets for Miller Campbell’s tour run across the UK and Ireland, with an additional show in Sweden this July and August. She posts regularly on both Instagram and TikTok. Her cover of Let Down is out on 24 July.
