Reunited rockers The Darkness all ready to roll again

NOTHING'S Gonna Stop Us.

That was the vow from reunited rockers The Darkness this week as they began their first north American tour in eight years, and unveiled their first song to download from their soon-to-be released third album.

Fervent fans of the former Lowestoft lads were given a special treat with a free download of the song as a 'thank you' for all their support – following a five-year hiatus.

The band – comprising former Kirkley High School pupils Justin Hawkins, Dan Hawkins and Ed Graham, along with Scotsman Frankie Poullain – re-formed last year. Dan Hawkins revealed in The Journal in November how the third album was 'almost complete' and that much of the recording had been done in Lowestoft.

On Wednesday, The Darkness unveiled the first fruits of their recent studio labours – with the track, entitled Nothing's Gonna Stop Us, available to download via their official website www.theactualdarkness.com.

'Intended as a big cheers to fans who have been waiting so patiently since the band last released new material (back in 2006), and who have responded so enthusiastically to the end of the hiatus by buying enough tickets to sell out tours on both sides of the Atlantic, the song was recorded and produced by the band and Nick Brine in Norfolk and mixed in Austin, Texas by Chris 'Frenchie' Smith,' a spokesman for the band said.

An accompanying video, which had been created in Philadelphia, was also released on Wednesday – on the same day that The Darkness began their North American tour with a sold out show at Toronto's Phoenix venue.

The band has also announced appearances at the Isle of Wight Festival on Sunday, June 24 (headlining the Big Top Stage) and in Thetford Forest on July 14.