Following almost eight years of relative silence, influential Irish shoegaze band my bloody valentine plans to drop two new albums, initially slated for release in 2020.
Singer Kevin Shields told the New York Times that “our original plan was we would record both the albums back-to-back and then go tour on that. And that would have been this year, you know, but everything really did slow down.”
The forthcoming albums have not yet been recorded due to the pandemic, however. Shields shared with The Times that the first album will be “warm and melodic,” while the second will be more experimental, saying, “I don’t want to give too much away because I could lay it out verbally, and then someone’s going to go, ‘That’s a really good idea.’”
As for a release date for the pair of LPs? “They’ll probably be finished by the end of the year,” Shields told The Times.
The band’s Bilinda Butcher concurred: “I think once I can get over to Ireland it will get done very quickly as my vocals are often the last thing to be recorded,” she said.
Additionally, the band, which signed to Domino Records, also made its entire discography available digitally today for the first time. New physical editions for each release will follow on May 21.
See the times for the release of several new videos below, along with the clip for “soon.”
My Bloody Valentine’s 1988 debut, Isn’t Anything and 1991’s loveless have been mastered fully from analog for deluxe LPs and mastered from new hi-res uncompressed digital sources for standard LPs. Fully analog cuts of m b v, which first released in 2013, will also be available on deluxe and standard LPs globally for the first time.
Shields told the NYT that “We definitely wanted to work with an independent label, opposed to a major, Domino was the ultimate kind of independent setup — they have as many facilities as most majors, but they’re owned by one person.”
MBV, known for their long hiatuses, is motivated to release their new music.“Time is a bit more precious, Shields said in the Times. “I don’t want to be 70-something wanting to make the next record after m b v. I think it’d be cooler to make one now.”
Isn’t Anything, loveless, ep’s 1988-1991 and rare tracks, and m b v are available to pre-order in limited edition bundles via the mbv store.