[tweetmeme]After dropping hints and teasing fans over the past few days, Echo & The Bunnymen today formally announced their 12th studio album Meteorites, which will be released April 28 in the U.K. and then on June 3 in the U.S. — and which will be accompanied by a just-announced spring European tour plus U.S. dates this summer.
The 10-song album is produced by Killing Joke bassist Youth, and will be released by 429 Records in both the U.K. and U.S. All songs are written by frontman Ian McCulloch, and performed by McCulloch and band co-founder Will Sergeant, along with guitarist Gordy Goudie and bassist Stephen Brannan.
Of the album, the band’s first since 2009′s The Fountain, McCulloch says:
“Meteorites, the new Bunnymen album… at long last we’ve made the worthy successor to Crocodiles, Heaven Up Here, Porcupine and Ocean Rain. Meteorites is what Echo and the Bunnymen mean and are meant to be — up there in heaven — untouchable, celestial, beautiful and real. It has changed my life.”
The Bunnymen today also announced a 12-date tour this May that mostly will play the U.K. but also will include a trio of concerts in major cities in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
The run of dates opens May 2 in Leamington Spa, U.K., heads to Europe for those three mainland concerts, then returns to the U.K. for eight more shows, wrapping up May 20 in the Bunnymen’s hometown of Liverpool. According to the band’s announcement on Facebook, a fan presale will begin Wednesday ahead of the general on-sale.
“We’re looking forward to playing a selection of the songs from the brand new studio record live for you, as well as some older favourites,” the band writes.
According to the band’s publicity, the Bunnymen will tour the U.S. this summer.
Tracklist: Echo & The Bunnymen, Meteorites
1. “Lovers On The Run”
2. “Is This A Breakdown”
3. “Holy Moses”
4. “Meteorites”
5. “Explosions”
6. “Icarus”
7. “I Loved The Devil”
8. “Constantinople”
9. “Market Town”
10. “New Horizons”
Echo & The Bunnymen tour dates:
May 2: Assembly Rooms, Leamington Spa, UK
May 6: Alhambra, Paris, France
May 7: Trix, Antwerp, Belgium
May 8: Tivoli, Utrecht, Netherlands
May 10: Academy, Oxford, UK
May 11: Wulfurn Hall, Wolverhampton, UK
May 13: Tyne Theatre, Newcastle, UK
May 14: Ritz, Manchester, UK
May 16: Queens Hall, Edinburgh, UK
May 17: Sheperds Bush Empire, London, UK
May 18: Academy, Bristol, UK
May 20: Philharmonic, Liverpool, UK
