David Balfe, the mind and heart behind For Those I Love, is back with ‘Carving The Stone,’ his deeply anticipated second album, landing August 8th via September Recordings. It’s a heavy, soul-baring return—Balfe’s first full-length since his seismic self-titled debut in 2021—and it’s already shaping up to be one of the most powerful records of the year.
Alongside the announcement, Balfe has shared No Scheme, a gripping new single that digs into the numb drift of adulthood. A “spiritual successor” to fan favourite Top Scheme, this one trades riotous fury for something a little more bruised and reflective. “We’ve all got real jobs and we’re bored,” he laments, calling for the seizure of the “means of chronic boredom from the bourgeoisie” with a wink and a jab. It’s both cutting and compassionate, as Balfe lays bare the tangled mess of compromise, class guilt, and a longing for justice in a time that feels more confusing than ever.
Balfe says of the track:
“No Scheme trades some of its anger for despondency, its rage for reflection, while never fully leaving that original fire behind… Hypocrisy, complacency, and culpability are all present, but so too is a search for justice or meaning in an increasingly confusing time.”
‘Carving The Stone’ is more than just a follow-up—it’s a progression. Where his debut album focused inward, mourning the death of a close friend, this record casts its gaze outward to the wider collapse around him. It’s an album shaped by the erosion of working-class life, by the emotional toll of Dublin’s housing crisis, by the everyday push-pull between surviving and meaning-making. There’s beauty too—soaring strings, big drums, cinematic synths, and plenty of Balfe’s signature spoken-word intensity.
And of course, he’s taking it on the road. For the first time, For Those I Love will tour Ireland and hit some of the biggest UK stages to date. Expect catharsis, tears, dance-floor communion, and maybe a few screams into the void.
Tour dates
- Sept 23 – The Fleece, Bristol
- Sept 25 – Islington Assembly Hall, London
- Sept 28 – Gorilla, Manchester
- Sept 29 – Room 2, Glasgow
- Oct 1 – Limelight 2, Belfast
- Oct 2 – Cyprus Ave, Cork
- Oct 3 – Mike The Pies, Listowel
- Oct 5 – Black Box, Galway
- Oct 6 – 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin
This is Balfe at his most expansive and ambitious—a record that aches, confronts, dreams, and resists. It’s about grief and growing up, the death of a friend and the death of a culture, the push toward comfort and the pull back to chaos. It’s for those trying to make sense of it all in the grey areas between.
‘Carving The Stone’ track list
- Carving The Stone
- No Quiet
- No Scheme
- The Ox / The Afters
- Civic
- Mirror
- This Is Not The Place I Belong
- Of The Sorrows
- I Came Back To See The Stone Had Moved
‘Carving The Stone’ is out August 8th on CD, standard black vinyl, indie and Irish exclusive colour variants, and a limited Dinked edition. Pre-order here.
LISTEN / WATCH NO SCHEME HERE
LISTEN / WATCH OF THE SORROWS HERE
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