It’s been almost 18 years since Jesus and Mary Chain ( a Scottish band founded by brothers Jim and William Reid in 1983) released Munki in 1998 and subsequently had an 8 year break up from ’99 to ’07. It wasn’t until a festival in the UK called Meltdown in June of 2007 the band reformed; subsequently performing at Coachella the same year with an appearance by none other than Scarlett Johanson.
Since reforming The Jesus and Mary Chain has kept busy. Aside from contributing a studio recording of “All Things Must Pass” on the soundtrack album to the NBC television drama Heroes the band also released a 4-CD box set entitled The Power of Negative Thinking: B-Sides & Rarities. Included in the box set was a variety of material from the Barbed Wire Kisses, The Sound of Speed and The Jesus And Mary Chain Hate Rock ‘n’ Roll compilations.
Also contained was unreleased tracks and rarities from throughout their career and was subsequently followed up with a greatest hits album and some extensive tour dates. Including a run of shows 2014 and 2015 to mark the 30th anniversary of their iconic debut, Psychocandy. Yet, despite having seemingly turned things around for themselves; as of 2016, The Jesus and Mary Jane had yet to release a new studio album.
That was until this September when they confirmed onstage that a new album was not only in the works but “almost complete.” This news was further corroborated by their manager, Creation Records‘ Alan McGee who told CBC Music, “They’ve made another album! It’s a big deal! It’s unbelievable. They’ve just made an album and I’ve signed them to Warners! New album coming. It’s coming out end of next March. It’s kinda enormous!” Little else has been released on the upcoming album other than a tentative release date of March 2017! While a title and track list are still under wraps. One thing is clear: it’s about damn time!
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