Synthpop pioneer Howard Jones this week announced he’ll release his first proper studio album in a decade this coming May, a collection of new songs called Transform that will be accompanied by a North American tour that begins in early June. See those full tour dates right here. More to be announced.

The Retro Futura package tour returns this summer for a 24-date U.S. run in July and August with a bill headlined by synthpop legend Howard Jones that also features The English Beat, Men Without Hats, Modern English and Katrina of Katrina and the Waves — plus appearances by Paul Young and Bow Wow Wow’s Annabella Lwin.

Turns out the slimmed-down Regeneration Tour won’t be a West Coast-only trek after all: The organizers of the ’80s synthpop package tour have announced a pair of dates in New York this August, two concerts that will feature Erasure frontman Andy Bell and will feature Howard Jones.

Still struggling from the loss of planned headliner The Human League, the promoters of this summer’s Regeneration Tour today announced they’ve been forced to scale back to a West Coast-only trek, unveiling new shows and lineups in Portland, Ore., Sacramento and Mexico City while also canceling a date in Atlanta.

Despite fans’ concerns that the entire trek had been scrubbed, it appears the Regeneration Tour is still on this summer, with Talking Heads spinoff Tom Tom Club and New Wave stars A Flock of Seagulls filling in at certain dates for The Human League, which quit the tour late month.

This week’s roundup of headlines includes items on Killing Joke’s Jaz Coleman, New Order, Ian McCulloch, R.E.M., Aztec Camera, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Jazz Butcher, Crime and the City Solution, Men Without Hats, Ministry, Public Image Ltd., Close Lobsters, Mojo Nixon and more.

Reactivated Canadian New Wave stars Men Without Hats this week announced a late-fall U.S. tour in support of comeback album Love in the Age of War. The Ivan Doroschuk-fronted group plays a handful of early September dates before the full tour, which opens Nov. 20 in Orlando, Fla., and runs through Dec. 1 in Boston.

In this week’s link round-up we find Lloyd Cole writing about David Bowie’s ‘Low,’ plus interviews with Jim Reid of the recently reunited Jesus and Mary Chain, Ivan Doroschuk of Men Without Hats, Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger of The Beat (aka The English Beat) and New Wave piano man Joe Jackson.

This week’s new releases include a 3CD reissue of Bob Mould’s ‘Bob Mould,’ ‘The Last Dog and Pony Show’ and ‘Love Dog 98,’ plus a Mobile Fidelity reissue of Jane’s Addiction’s ‘Nothing’s Shocking,’ an expanded reissue of Vicious Pink’s debut, and the CD of Men Without Hats’ new ‘Love in the Age of War.’

This week’s new releases include brand-new studio albums from The dB’s (their first in 25 year), the Bodeans and Men Without Hats, plus a live album from electro-industrial giants Skinny Puppy and a reissue of ‘File Under: Easy Listening,’ the second album by Bob Mould’s band Sugar.

This week’s round-up of Slicing Up Eyeballs headlines includes news about My Bloody Valentine, The Smiths, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Depeche Mode, The Cult, The Charlatans, Duran Duran and Men Without Hats — plus a new Peter Gabriel live CD giveaway.

Men Without Hats are set to release ‘Love in the Age of War,’ their first album in nine years, this spring, and last week frontman Ivan Doroschuk premiered the album’s first single, “Head Above Water,” on Montreal’s CHOM 97.7. You can hear the track, produced by ex-Skinny Puppy member Dave Ogilvie, here.

The Human League has set a belated U.S. release date next month for its first album in a decade — ‘Credo,’ which arrived in the U.K. this past spring — and has announced a 17-date North American tour this September that will see the act pairing up with Men Without Hats and The B-52s.