Next week, Liverpool’s The Wild Swans — the brainchild of former Teardrop Explodes keyboardist Paul Simpson — will release their first album in 21 years and only their third overall, a 13-track collection called ‘The Coldest Winter For a Hundred Years’ that features veterans of Echo & The Bunnymen, Spiritualized and The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

Although they only issued two studio albums during their mid-’80s career, The Housemartins — the UK’s self-proclaimed ‘fourth best band in Hull’ — this week will be anthologized with at least their fourth best-of album, although it’s not quite clear whether the new set features any previously unreleased material.

The Wedding Present’s 2005 tour of North America in support of that year’s ‘Take Fountain’ album is the subject of a new 139-minute concert film called ‘Drive’ that will be released on DVD in the U.S. next week and in the U.K. later this year.

Modfather Paul Weller unexpectedly announced a new non-album single on Monday, a dancey tune called ‘Starlite’ that can be streamed here and will be available next month as both an iTunes download bundle and a 12-inch single.

Australian synth/rock act Icehouse — best remembered in the U.S. for their 1987 hit ‘Electric Blue,’ co-written by John Oates — this summer will release a comprehensive best-of called ‘White Heat: 30 Hits,’ which, over two CDs, will chronologically present each of the band’s 30 singles, and also will include a DVD with 32 music videos.

Before taking the Pixies back out on the road this fall for more ‘Doolittle’ dates, frontman Black Francis will embark on a short solo-acoustic tour of his own — beginning tonight — and he’ll follow that up in September with a brand-new studio album he recorded as a duo with singer-songwriter Reid Paley.

Rhino Records later this month will re-release the Ramones’ first four albums — ‘Ramones’ (1976), ‘Leave Home’ (1977), ‘Rocket to Russia’ (1977) and ‘Road to Ruin’ (1978) — on 180-gram audiophile vinyl and in special limited-edition sets packaged with bonus 7-inch singles on blue vinyl.