Earlier this month the dreamy Irish shoegaze band revealed a short tour in March to Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester and London. Preceding this, MBV played at the Electric Brixton last night and frontman Kevin Shields told the crowd the band's long awaited new album "might be out in two or three days". MBV's act, which was hastily tempered by their management who claimed a release date is yet to be confirmed, shows the same defiance to an ultra-organised modern industry Bowie showed. Like Bowie, the band are expected to release the new material on their website and had originally predicted a December release.
More importantly, it whet the appetite of fans who have been waiting more than 20 years for a follow-up to 1991's Loveless. Much of the murky pink masterpiece's charm came from Shields' swirling, ethereal guitar work and Fact Magazine's assertion that new track Rough Song, debuted last night, is a "bouncy bit of neo-baggy, driven by a pastoral synth melody and chugging guitar work" suggests the band are true to previous form.
Fans will doubtless hope much of the release will echo the lush waves of roaring guitar work of Loveless, which took the band two years in the studio to make and almost bankrupted Creation Records, will re-emerge. It will be interesting to see if Shields has taken advantage of much of the new technology available at his fingertips to influence the band's sound. The band reunited in mid-2007 after Shields ditched several albums worth of material in their 15-year hiatus. Tunes such as Sometimes, and To Here Knows When on Loveless were rich with a druggy sexuality and if the much anticipated new record is to live up to its predecessor Shields will need to have channeled some of the chunks of confidence long-term collaborators Primal Scream throw into their dance-rocknroll Minestrone.
One thing remains patently clear, MBV and Shields in particular are firmly intent on doing things their way.
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