The odd indie-folkists, Neutral Milk Hotel, have announced their first string of dates since their confusing 2002 album of Bulgarian music. The band’s last LP, 1998’s ‘In the Aeroplane Over the Sea’ achieved cult acclaim, the scent of it’s unsettling, melancholic yet sweat strummings attracted such names as REM, who offered the band a once-in-a-lifetime support slot on tour, but this could not tempt the band away from a 15 year hiatus. Now Mangum, Scott Spillane, Julian Koster, and Jeremy Barnes are back to bring their fans what they’ve been missing.

The band will be playing their first show since 1999 in Baltimore before continuing to onto to 2014′ dates in North America, Australia, New Zealand, Taipei and Tokyo as well as announced appearances at Primavera Sound (Barcelona, Spain, May 29-31, 2014) and Optimus Primavera Sound (Porto, Portugal 5-7 June, 2014).

Of course speculation surrounds this revelation, with many people tipping them for California’s huge Coaechella festival due to a lack of west-coast dates, but until this claim is substantiated their fans will have to live with performances at Toronto’s Kool Haus on January 20 and a row of four dates in Brooklyn’s BAM Howard Gilman Opera House (January 24-25) and the Webster Hall (January 27-28).

The band have certainly been keeping a low profile, despite lead singer Jeff Mangum clocking up a few solo appearances, bafflingly including the curation of Butlins in 2010, a place widely associated with the musicians grave-yard. However we can now look-forward to the complete band’s rejuvenation and maybe even see the dawn of some new creativity.