New Order will perform five special hometown concerts this summer as part of the Manchester International Festival, teaming up with visual artist Liam Gillick and composer-arranger Joe Duddell for performances that will find the group backed by a 12-member synthesizer ensemble.

U2 today marked the 30th anniversary of the release of The Joshua Tree by announcing a new expanded, multiformat reissue of the 1987 album that will include B-sides, outtakes, a concert recorded that year at New York’s Madison Square Garden and a set of newly commissioned remixes.

About two dozen Depeche Mode fans were treated to an unforgettable experience Monday when the band’s label bused them to a New York studio to watch — from just feet away — as the group played a 40-minute set in preparation for the upcoming Global Spirit Tour.

The Specials return to North America this June for a 12-date run of concerts that will take the band to Canada and the east and west coasts of the United States. The tour opens with two shows in Toronto on June 6 and 7, then plays a few East Coast dates, followed by a West Coast run, before ending at a Quebec festival on June 24.

Reunited U.K. indiepop outfit The Darling Buds will release their first new music in more than 25 years in April, a 4-song EP called Evergreen that will be released by Odd Box Records on limited-edition 10-inch vinyl and cassette. Check out the track “Complicated” here.

The Cure appears poised to celebrate this year’s edition of Record Store Day with vinyl picture-disc reissues of 2001’s Greatest Hits and a standalone release of the Acoustic Hits set that was included as a bonus disc in early pressings of the CD version of that best-of set. The two double-LP sets are expected to be released April 21.

Afropop star Angélique Kidjo will debut a “thrilling new version” of the Talking Heads’ landmark 1980 album Remain in Light at New York City’s Carnegie Hall in May, then will take the show on the road, performing the album at Bonnarroo and on a yet-to-be-announced world tour.