The Human League — set to release an expanded 2CD edition of its 1981 synthpop classic ‘Dare’ this March — this week announced XXXV: The 2012 Tour, a 14-date U.K. trek planned for this November and December that will commemorate the 35th anniversary of the band’s formation in Sheffield, England.

This week’s new releases include new albums from Gary Numan (‘Dead Son Rising’) and Blondie (‘Panic of Girls’), plus reissue from the Art of Noise (‘Who’s Afraid of the Art of Noise’) and The Raincoats (‘Odyshape’), plus the first-ever DVD release of Sonic Youth’s ‘1991: The Year Punk Broke.’

This week’s round-up of links includes an interview with The Human League’s Philip Oakey, an essay by Billy Bragg, a look at Kate Bush’s lack of success in the U.S. and recollections of the Sonic Youth’s and Nirvana’s infamous 1991 tour of Europe.

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.

British record producer Martin Rushent — who helmed The Human League’s genre-defining 1981 album ‘Dare,’ as well as beloved post-punk/New Wave-era records and singles by The Stranglers, Buzzcocks, XTC, The Go-Go’s and more — died Saturday. He was 63.

The latest installment of the AV Club’s ‘Undercover’ series finds Rocky Votolato and the members of Matt Pond PA doing a stripped-down take on The Human League’s 1981 synthpop classic ‘Don’t You Want Me.’ Check out the video here.