Manchester stalwarts James will return with their 16th studio album — and first in three years — this June with the release of All the Colours of You, an 11-track set that was partially recorded before COVID-19, but which features a title track inspired by the pandemic’s lockdowns and the concurrent racial justice movement.
New Order this May will release a new live album — the band’s fifth in the last decade — that was recorded at London’s Alexandra Palace in what was their only U.K. live show of 2018, a career-spanning set that included performances of several Joy Division songs. Full details including tracklist right here.
Beggars Arkive this spring will reissue on colored vinyl the five post-Bauhaus solo albums that Peter Murphy released on the Beggars Banquet label between 1986 and 1995, plus a brand-new rarities disc featuring 10 demo versions, remixes and edits. Full details and tracklist of rarities disc right here.
The Wedding Present will release a new album later this month called Locked Down and Stripped Back that’s exactly what the title advertises: wtripped-down versions of the band’s songs, plus a couple unreleased numbers, recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown. Hear a brand-new song right here.
New Zealand indie-pop legends The Chills will return this spring with their seventh studio album, the 10-track Scatterbrain that is preceded by the recently released track “You’re Immortal” and the brand-single “Monolith” — which you can hear right here. Plus full tracklist.
With the Bauhaus reunion sidelined by COVID-19, guitarist Daniel Ash found plenty of time in 2020 to focus on a new album by his new band — a trio called Ashes and Diamonds — with plans to release the record later this year, he announced in a podcast interview Monday. More details here.
Cathal Coughlan, the Irish singer-songwriter who co-founded Microdisney and went on to lead The Fatima Mansions, returns today with his first new music in a decade, the single “Song of Co-Aklan,” which also is the title track of his forthcoming solo album. Hear the new song here.
Q&A: Daniel Ash on Love and Rockets’ reunion, his new band — and figuring out how to play “So Alive” 
Q&A: Chris Frantz talks Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club and new book ‘Remain in Love’ 
Q&A: Steve Wynn on The Dream Syndicate’s first new album in nearly 30 years 
Q&A: Bauhaus’ David J on his ‘accidental’ concept album ‘Not Long For This World’ 
Q&A: Peter Murphy on ‘Ninth,’ Bauhaus’ break-up, reuniting Dalis Car 
Q&A: Joey Santiago on Pixies’ ‘Doolittle’ tour, possible ‘Surfer Rosa’ shows, new album talk 
Q&A: Prefab Sprout’s Paddy McAloon on new album, changing the world with music 
Q&A: Peter Hook talks ‘Unknown Pleasures’ tour, re-recording Joy Division 