House of Love frontman Guy Chadwick this past week unveiled a brand-new lineup of the band, announcing he’d parted ways with original members Terry Bickers and Pete Evans, as well as Matt Jury, who’d been on board since the group reunited in 2003.
Chadwick had recruited the new lineup — Keith Osborne on lead guitar, Harry Osborne on bass and Hugo Degenhardt on drums — for a planned North American tour in 2020 that was delayed by the pandemic and is in the process of being rescheduled for the spring of 2022. (Several dates have been confirmed.)
At the time, he’d suggested that lineup was only for the trip stateside as Bickers and the others didn’t want to travel overseas. But now, Chadwick writes, he’s parted ways with the reunited version of The House of Love and has been recording a planned new album with the latest lineup.
The band’s official Facebook carried a message that read, in part:
“The pandemic has been a catalyst of change in Guy’s decision, with him working closer to home with other musicians in preparation for the postponed North American tour. Guy wanted Terry to be involved but he declined and will make his own announcement in due course.”
The same statement was posted on the band’s Instagram, but with one key addition regarding Bickers: “Although they were not in agreement about the split, they remain friends.”
Bickers, of course, has not been a constant member of the band, having been ejected mid-tour in 1989. Chadwick and the band recorded two House of Love albums after he left — 1992’s Babe Rainbow and 1993’s Audience with the Mind — before folding the group.
Chadwick and Bickers mended fences, though, as the band reunited in in 2003 and released a new studio album, Days Run Away, two years later. A follow-up, She Paints Words in Red, came in 2013.
The new lineup has been recording what will be The House of Love’s seventh album, and Chadwick posted a excerpt of the new song “Melody Rose” with the band’s statement. You can hear that below.
Of the new music, Chadwick says:
“The forthcoming new album provisionally titled A State of Grace is most definitely a classic House of Love record, with different musicians bringing a new enthusiasm, energy and vibrancy to what I feels are the best set of songs I have written for years.”
Here’s the full statement and the clip of new song “Melody Rose”:
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PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- The House of Love nears completion of new album, begins rescheduling rare U.S. tour
- Watch: The House of Love’s Guy Chadwick digs deep with 2nd hour-long live broadcast
- Watch: The House of Love’s Guy Chadwick plays 13-song solo set ‘live from isolation’
- The House of Love cancels rare U.S. tour over coronavirus risk, hopes to reschedule
- The House of Love expands North American tour with 3 new dates in Boston, California
- The House of Love announces first North American tour in nearly 30 years
am I the only one who sees the irony in the name “Bickers”