Dutch artist CHARLOTTE WESSELS and her band, which performs under the name The Obsession, will release their second studio album, Mute Swan Empire, on February 5, 2027, via Napalm Records. It is a character-driven concept album in which each of the 15 tracks embodies a specific human pattern of thought and behavior that emerges at the end of the Anthropocene epoch. Wessels explores how differently people react to climate collapse, social injustice, and the collapse of familiar visions of the future.
Through these diverse characters, the former DELAIN singer paints a multifaceted portrait of humanity on her latest work, while also highlighting the various ways we confront this collapse. All of this is woven into a sonic multiverse that defies any genre categorization.
The album is set to be released just in time for CHARLOTTE WESSELS’ very first headlining tour through Europe and the United Kingdom, which begins on February 4, 2027, in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium.
CHARLOTTE WESSELS comments:
“I didn’t originally intend to write a concept album, but at some point I realized that all the new songs I’d written were connected. Each one seemed to embody a different reaction to the world we live in: denial, complicity, withdrawal, blind obedience, selective compassion—but also hope, connectedness, and much more. I began to recognize these recurring themes and archetypes, and eventually it dawned on me that they were all part of a much larger story. I wanted to follow this common thread as far as possible and explore the concept first through the music and ultimately through the artwork and visual language as well.
This discovery became the foundation for Mute Swan Empire. What fascinates me is how easy it is to recognize these reactions in others, and how much harder it can be to perceive them in ourselves. I didn’t want to create an album that simply points the finger at others or provides easy answers. I wanted to explore the contradictions, the uncomfortable gray areas, and the possibility that we can change.
Musically, that same freedom to let a song take us wherever it leads has resulted in an album that shifts between some of the hardest-hitting tracks we’ve ever made and moments of great vulnerability. Despite this diversity, I believe we’ve never sounded more like a unified whole. Everyone brings something unique to the music, and I’m really proud of what emerges when all these elements come together.”
Stream Charlotte Wessels on Spotify:
Mute Swan Empire Tour 2027
Support: Melissa Bonny (except Essen)
04.02.27 BE – Sint-Niklaas / Casino
05.02.27 UK – London / Islington Assembly Hall
06.02.27 UK – Glasgow / Slay
07.02.27 UK – Manchester / Club Academy
09.02.27 FR – Paris / La Machine Du Moulin Rouge
10.02.27 CH – Zürich / Papiersaal
12.02.27 IT – Mailand / Legend Club
13.02.27 DE – München / Backstage Halle
14.02.27 CZ – Zlín / Masters of Rock Cafe
15.02.27 AT – Wien / Szene Wien
17.02.27 HU – Budapest / Barba Negra
18.02.27 PL – Krakau / Hype Park
19.02.27 DE – Leipzig / Werk 2
20.02.27 DE – Hamburg / Gruenspan
21.02.27 DK – Kopenhagen / Pumpehuset
23.02.27 DE – Berlin / Lido
25.02.27 DE – Aschaffenburg / Colos-Saal
26.02.27 DE – Essen / Weststadthalle
27.02.27 NL – Utrecht / TivoliVredenburg Ronda
Source: Napalm Records
Photo Credit: Tim Tronckoe / Collage: Nina Mathijsen