Scottish shoegaze band The Jesus And Mary Chain have released another single ahead of their upcoming album drop later this year. “Chemical Animal” will feature on the band’s eighth studio album to date, Glasgow Eyes, which is set to be released on March 8 via Fuzz Club.
This LP, announced back on November 29 with the release of the record’s lead single “Jamcod”, will be the band’s latest release since 2017 and will be followed swiftly by a UK and European tour, commencing with two dates at the Albert Hall in Manchester on March 22 and 23 respectively, and ending at Den Atelier in Luxembourg on April 25.
Listen to “Chemical Animal” below:
“People should expect a Jesus and Mary Chain record, and that’s certainly what Glasgow Eyes is,” Jim Reid said in a statement. “Our creative approach is remarkably the same as it was in 1984, just hit the studio and see what happens. We went in with a bunch of songs and let it take its course. There are no rules, you just do whatever it takes. And there’s a telepathy there—we are those weird not-quite twins that finish each other’s sentences.”
The Jesus And Mary Chain, founded in 1983 in East Kilbride by brothers Jim and William Reid, who are responsible for the majority of the songwriting, are the source of inspiration behind the band’s sound, and remain the group’s only ever-present members. The pair enlisted Douglas Hart on bass and Murray Dalglish on drums, who was soon replaced by Primal Scream’s Bobbie Gillespie, and released their debut single “Upside Down” in 1984, which was soon followed by their critically acclaimed debut album Psychocandy the following year, an LP that firmly established the group’s popularity in the up-and-coming UK shoegaze scene and brought with it the much-loved fan favourite “Just Like Honey“.
Watch the music video for “Just Like Honey” below:
Their second album, Darklands, proved to be the band’s most successful, reaching number five on the UK Albums Chart. Four more albums followed before The Jesus And Mary Chain disbanded in 1999, with both brothers starting different, yet ultimately unsuccessful, music projects. The band then reunited in 2007 and released their first material in ten years with the single “All Things Must Pass,” before releasing their seventh studio album, Damage And Joy, in 2017.
The current line-up consists of the Reid brothers, of course, along with bassist Mark Crozer, guitarist Scott Von Ryper and drummer Justin Welch.
See below for upcoming The Jesus And Mary Chain tour dates:
22/03/2024 – Albert Hall – Manchester
23/03- Albert Hall – Manchester
25/03 – 3Olympia – Dublin
26/03 – Limelight 1 – Belfast
27/03 – Usher Hall – Edinburgh
29/03 – Roundhouse – London
30/03 – Roundhouse – London
02/04 – Amager Bio – Copenhagen
03/04 – Pustervik – Gothenburg
05/04 – Rockefeller – Oslo
06/04 – Munich Brewery – Stockholm
07/04 – Plan B. – Malmo
09/04 – Markthalle – Hamburg
11/04 – Huxleys – Berlin
12/04 – Live Music Hall – Cologne
13/04 – Elysée Montmartre – Paris
15/04 – L’Usine – Geneva
16/04 – Salzhaus – Winterthur
17/04 – Alcatraz – Milan
19/04 – Donaufestival – Krems
20/04 – Halle O2 – Heidelberg
21/04 – Roadburn Festival – Tilburg
23/04 – AB – Brussels
24/04 – Paard – Den Haag
25/04 – Den Atelier – Luxembourg
Tickets for these shows are available to purchase here.
