Upcoming Releases

Wire have announced details of a new album, Mind Hive, set for release on January 24, 2020 via the band’s own label pinkflag.

The band’s seventeenth studio album sees the definitive post-punk group continue a run of stellar releases, showcasing a band on peak form 40 years into their hugely influential career.

The first glimpse of Mind Hive comes with lead single “Cactused,” one of Mind Hive’s resoundingly pop moments, which premiered today at Pitchfork. Colin Newman’s vocal is wide eyed and wired, with Lewis’ smooth backing vocals thickening the plot. Matthew Simms’ effects-heavy guitar work creates a bright web of noise, with the song’s stop/start moments providing a series of precise energy bursts.

Since their inception Wire have maintained a reputation for creating music that stretches the rock form whilst simultaneously editing it down to its essence. With their gift for crafting songs that perfectly balance experimentation and accessibility, Wire were recently hailed by the Quietus as “one of the most consistent British bands of all time." Yet Wire exhibit little inclination to look back or trade on past glories, rather they remain resolutely focused on producing music which is smart, vital and defiantly modern.
 
Mind Hive is the group’s first newly recorded material since 2017’s stellar Silver/Lead. That album garnered rave reviews (“Some of the best tunes they’ve done” – The Guardian) and career best sales. Yet, if Silver/Lead set the bar pretty high, Mind Hive seems to have no problem vaulting over it – a supremely confident album featuring some of the band’s most upbeat moments of recent years.
 
Wire’s back catalogue is of course studded with influential epoch defining works. Last year saw the reissue of their ground-breaking first three albums: Pink Flag, Chairs Missing and 154. These were voted amongst the top reissues of the year (Rolling Stone at no.10, Uncut at no.12 and Select at no.3). And now Mind Hive arrives at a time when Wire are being cited as an influence by yet another generation of bands. They are also the subjects of a career spanning feature documentary called People in a Film due for release late 2020 (details here).
 
Quite how a group that has been operating for such a long period is still able to produce such exciting and essential work is difficult to understand. And yet here we are; Mind Hive is the most masterful 35 minutes of post-punk you will hear this year. 

Track listing:

1. Be Like Them
2. Cactused
3. Primed and Ready
4. Off The Beach
5. Unrepentant
6. Shadows
7. Oklahoma
8. Hung
9. Humming