Echo & The Bunnymen announced this week that the band has signed to BMG, marking the group’s return to a major label for the first time since the 1990s. On top of that, the band said, in a Facebook post, that it’s “looking forward to sharing future releases very soon.”
It’s not yet known what the Bunnymen have in store for fans in terms of upcoming releases. The band’s last album — its 12th full-length record, Meteorites — was released on 429 Records in 2014.
Since reforming in the late ’90s, Echo & The Bunnymen have released six albums, beginning with 1997’s Evergreen and 1999’s What Are You Going to Do Wtih Your Life?. both of which were issued by Universal Music Group’s London Records. After that, the Bunnymen have been on several indepdent labels.
In the ’80s, the Bunnymen were part of the classic Sire Records stable; the Warner Bros. imprint released the band’s work up through 1990’s Ian McCulloch-less album Reverberation. And then in the early 2000s, Rhino Records released a retrospective box set — Crystal Days: 1979-1999 — and expanded reissues of the band’s ’80s albums, not to mention an expanded edition of the Songs to Learn and Sing compilation.
In the band’s Facebook post, attributed to McCulloch and Will Sergeant, the Bunnymen say, “Back on a major label and it feels great.”
The band kicks off its North American co-headlining tour with Violent Femmes on July 11 in Philadelphia.
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Echo & The Bunnymen add 3 more dates to this summer’s North American tour
- Violent Femmes and Echo & The Bunnymen plot North American co-headlining tour
- Echo & The Bunnymen to release 1985 live set on LP — if enough fans vote for it
- Echo & The Bunnymen announce U.S. tour, debut 3rd new track ‘Holy Moses’
- Echo & The Bunnymen offer first taste of ‘Meteorites’ with 7-minute ‘Market Town’
Not holding my breath for any new good music. Unless Ian grows a pair of balls and gets creative again. Otherwise I expect more middling AOR rock. Will always makes interesting music …some great, some tepid but that’s because he is not afraid to take chances and I regard that attitude highly.
Someone suggested on the Seven Seas board that they should take some of the music from Will’s solo albums and Poultergeist as great starting points for songs and begin writing from there. This is a very wise idea. Ian can play those songs in the car, in the shower etc and start humming melodies…
Also they should play in the same room together.
No Defreitas or Pattinson puts them at a real disadvantage. Those guys were real creative players and they are solely missed.
Good luck to Will.
I was able to escape being that person as I had my own developmental direction which eatb helped grow.Their best album was the fountain and the creative ease it contains, a must for the critics and fans
Looking forward to a whole lot of live albums and reissues of reissues.