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The Jesus and Mary Chain Announce New Album Updates

The unthinkable has happened: Jim and William Reid of The Jesus and Mary Chain are working on a new album, the duo's first since disbanding in 1998.

"When we ended in '98, we hated each other," William Reid told Billboard.com. "A lot of that was down to drink and drugs. Jim's completely sober now, and I don't drink during the shows. But there is a kind of wariness. We're both aware that we could snap at each other, but we're trying to hold it together. We love this band, and we love each other."

While we wouldn't exactly describe the Reid's onstage reunion at this year's Coachella as a lovey dovey affair, the band itself sounded incredibly tight as they blew through college rock classics like a rip-roaring "Reverence" and crowd-pleasing "Just Like Honey" (featuring Scarlet Johansson!). One can only hope that their push-and-pull tension will translate to the studio as the pair weans a stack of separately written songs down to a 12-track disc. Due for a late spring or early summer release, it'll arrive a decade after their last album, Munki.

"I would say it's an evolution," Reid added. "It definitely sounds like the Mary Chain, but I guess you evolve as a person and writer. You can't really stand still. If you do that, you're lost."

—The ARTISTdirect Staff
11.26.07