THE FRONT ROW

Fresh from a whirlwind global tour and with a huge summer ahead, Jamie Webster unleashes his first new music of 2025 – Across The River – a rousing, sun-drenched anthem for the festival season. With lyrics full of defiance, escapism and collective joy, the Liverpool singer-songwriter once again proves himself as the people’s poet.

amie Webster’s new single Across The River arrives with a bang and a boot-full of festival-season adrenaline. It’s his first new music of 2025, but it already sounds like the kind of track destined to be roared from the middle of a cider-splashed crowd come June. It’s defiant, euphoric and laced with the kind of no-nonsense lyricism that’s become the Liverpool troubadour’s signature.

Co-written with Circa Waves frontman Kieran Shudall, Across The River was born out of a desire to create something lighter, a direct antidote to the heavier track Breadline the pair had worked on the day before. The result? A three-minute surge of ‘pure dopamine’ – Webster’s own words – that spins a working-class philosophy into something both aspirational and unifying. If Breadline is a hard stare at the struggle, Across The River is the dream of what’s waiting after: the sea, the sun, the sound of thousands in joyful defiance.

From the first few bars, this is unmistakably a Jamie Webster track. His acoustic guitar style still drives the rhythm, but this time it’s buoyed by an uptempo beat and a sunlit melody that would feel just at home blasting from a car stereo as it would echoing across Worthy Farm. Lyrically, it captures his enduring knack for anthems that speak directly to people worn down by the grind but still full of hope. “Telling the boss to do one” has never sounded quite this triumphant.

There’s a real cinematic quality to it too. The music video, featuring This City Is Ours actor James Nelson-Joyce, leans into this spirit of restless optimism. It taps into the tension between daily struggle and the universal desire for escape – to get “across the river” to something better. Webster’s always been brilliant at grounding his music in place and feeling, and here he creates a vivid sense of longing for that other side – whatever it might mean to the listener.

It’s also a clear love letter to Webster’s fans. After touring across the UK, Europe, Australia and the US, he’s landed back on home turf with momentum, pride, and a sense of having built something far beyond his Liverpool roots. His 2024 album 10 For The People solidified his status as more than just a cult figure. Now, Across The River feels like an open invitation to take the next steps with him – side by side, pint in hand.

This summer, he’s everywhere: Glastonbury (for the fourth consecutive year), TRNSMT, and a slew of outdoor shows with indie stalwarts James. After playing to 32,000 fans in Sefton Park last year, you can already imagine the crowds belting out every word of Across The River, shoulder to shoulder under sunset skies.

And that’s what sets Webster apart – he doesn’t write for algorithms, he writes for us. These are songs for the masses, not the margins, and he’s fine-tuned a sound that thrives on community, heart, and the catharsis of live performance. Every chorus here feels designed to be shouted back, arms raised, worries parked.

Musically, Across The River isn’t a radical left turn, but it’s a progression. There’s more polish here than on earlier work, and the production feels tighter, crisper – without sacrificing any of that pub-to-pavilion authenticity. It’s proof that Webster can deliver a message and a melody with equal weight, and still remain unmistakably himself.

As a standalone single, it’s a high bar to set for whatever’s next. As a soundtrack to summer 2025, it’s already a contender for the anthem of the season.

Festival Dates 2025
📍12 Jun – Plymouth, The Hoe*
📍19 Jun – Thetford Forest*
📍21 Jun – Haydock Park
📍28 Jun – Cannock Chase Forest*
📍29 Jun – Glastonbury Festival
📍05 Jul – Derby Summer Sessions
📍10 Jul – Cardiff Castle*
📍11 Jul – TRNSMT Festival
📍19 Jul – Monument Festival, Sunderland
📍26 Jul – Together Again Festival, Bolesworth
(*Supporting James)

🎟️ Tickets & info: www.jamiewebstermusic.com