Scottish alt-rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain announced their new album, Damage and Joy, today. The band, comprised of brothers Jim and William Reid, are reuniting for an official album after a hiatus that lasted from 1998 until nearly ten years later in 2007 when the band first reunited for a performance at Coachella. While the band continued to tour sporadically since their initial Coachella reunion, this release marks the first new album from the group since Munki, which was released over 18 years ago.
Production for Damage and Joy initially began in September of 2015, but the decision to record an album together took the Reid brothers some soul-searching and growth first, as a rift between the two is what ultimately caused the initial split, with their garage-rock track “Facing Up To The Facts” providing a rather revealing lyric into the brothers’ relationship for a large portion of the 21st century: “I hate my brother and he hates me/That’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
Years later, the two are ready to start rebuilding their relationship and get to work.
“We started to…listen to each other a bit more,” Jim Reid explained in press release by ADA Music. “In the last couple of years, we’ve buried the hatchet to some degree, and thankfully not into each other.”
The band also shared the first single from the album, “Amputation.” Distorted riffs and Jim Reid’s nonchalant vocals create a hypnotic track in which Reid shares his grievances with his legacy within the music industry, which he feels is like “a grape in a bottle/It’s wine today but piss tomorrow.” Reid feels he and the group’s legacy have been edited out of the music business, a “rock and roll amputation,” he reservedly declares on the chorus.
Martin “Youth” Glover was at the helm for production duties for the new album, though he also contributed on bass and even acted as a diplomat to proceedings during sessions in London, Dublin, and Granada, Spain.
In addition, the album features guest performances from the band’s touring drummer, Brian Young, and bass contributions from former Lush bassist Phil King.
While a lot of “reunion” albums don’t go over well with fans, Jim Reid feels optimistic about their work.
“The interesting thing about this record is what comes out of the speakers. To make a good record is an achievement if you’re twenty-two, but to do it in your fifties, the way we are, I think is a minor miracle.”
Below you can find the track list for the upcoming album, which is slated for a March 27th release, and dates for their coinciding UK tour to support the album. The band will also be performing In the Day for Night festival, which you can check out the full story for the festival here.
Damage and Joy
1. Amputation
2. War On Peace
3. All Things Pass
4. Always Sad
5. Songs For A Secret
6. The Two Of Us
7. Los Feliz (Blues and Greens)
8. Mood Rider
9. Presedici (Et Chapaquiditch)
10. Get On Home
11. Facing Up To The Facts
12. Simian Split
13. Black And Blues
14. Can’t Stop The Rock
Dates for UK Tour:
3/23 – Newcastle, Northumbria University
3/25 – Manchester, Academy
3/27 – Leeds, Church
3/28 – Leicester, O2 Academy
3/29 – Bristol, O2 Academy
3/31 – Birmingham, O2 Institute
4/1 – Bournemouth, O2 Academy
4/2 – Oxford, O2 Academy
4/3 – Cambridge, Junction
4/5 – London, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
4/6 – Bexhill-on-Sea, De La Warr Pavilion
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