Robbie Williams Surprise Releases BRITPOP Album Three Weeks Early

Robbie Williams has pulled off a proper curveball, releasing his new album BRITPOP a full three weeks earlier than planned.

The record landed without warning in the early hours of Friday morning (16 January), with the launch marked by the album artwork being projected across several well known London landmarks. No long teaser campaign, no countdown clock. Just Robbie doing Robbie.

Originally, BRITPOP was due to arrive on 10 October 2025, a week after Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl. Williams later pushed the album to 6 February 2026, openly admitting that Swift’s chart dominance would have made a Number One unlikely. That plan has now been scrapped entirely.

Announcing the sudden release, Williams told fans:

“You thought it was gonna be then… then we decided it wasn’t… and now I’ve decided it’s now. Ladies and Gentlemen: BRITPOP – the album.”

BRITPOP is Williams’ 13th studio album and leans heavily into guitar driven sounds, drawing from the era that shaped his early solo ambitions. It follows 2019’s The Christmas Present and 2016’s The Heavy Entertainment Show, and features the singles Rocket, Spies, Human, Pretty Face and All My Life.

The album also boasts a wide ranging list of collaborators, including Chris Martin of Coldplay, Gaz Coombes, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, Mexican pop duo Jesse & Joy, and former Take That bandmate Gary Barlow.

Speaking previously about the project, Williams described BRITPOP as a long delayed creative full stop to his post Take That story.

“I set out to create the album that I wanted to write and release after I left Take That in 1995. It was the peak of Britpop and a golden age for British music.”

He added:

“I’ve worked with some of my heroes on this album; it’s raw, there are more guitars and it’s an album that’s even more upbeat and anthemic than usual. There’s some Brit in there and there’s certainly some pop too.”

If BRITPOP reaches Number One, Williams will draw level with The Beatles for the most UK chart topping albums, a milestone that would cap off one of the more unexpected release strategies of his career.