As reported by slicingupeyeballs.com:

Fans of reclusive songwriting genius Paddy McAloon spent a good part of last month debating the authenticity of a 10-song album called The Devil Came A Calling that mysteriously appeared online June 10, but now the verdict’s in: It is, indeed, a new Prefab Sprout album — although it’s actually titled Crimson/Red — and it’s due out this fall.

PrefabSprout.net has confirmed the new record will be released Oct. 7 by Icebreaker Records. The album is the U.K. sophistipop act’s first since the 2009 release of Let’s Change the World With Music, a collection that actually had been mostly recorded in the early ’90s as an aborted follow-up to Jordan: The Comeback.

Most recently, prior to Let’s Change the World, McAloon had released his only solo album, I Trawl the Megahertz, in 2003, and, before that, a Prefab Sprout record, The Gunman and Other Stories, in 2001. McAloon remains best known for Prefab Sprout’s 1985 album Steve McQueen — titled Two Wheels Good in the U.S. — and its singles “Faron Young” and “When Love Breaks Down.”

McAloon suffers from tinnitus, and the hearing issue has sidelined his performing career over the past decade. In an e-mailed interview with Slicing Up Eyeballs in 2011, he said, “Hearing problems have made the live/traditional band career path pretty much impossible.”

As I was saying to Jimbo as we drove through Connecticut, Prefab Sprout is one of those bands I'm aware of but have never heard. I do have their album Swoon in a British Masters box set. I should put it on one day.

Swoon is the group's debut and, while interesting, it lacks the polish and craftsmanship of their subsequent works. Steve McQueen/Two Wheels Good is their masterpiece, with Jordan: The Comeback coming a very close second. All of their albums are worth hearing, though.

Yeah, I played both Swoon and Two Wheels Good (the U.S. title of the album since McQueen's Estate objected to the UK title) for my 13 year old daughter, and she hated Swoon but liked Two Wheels Good. The debut is an acquired taste and the sophomore effort pure sonic bliss. Glad to see we can expect more Prefab soon.

Agreed on Two Wheels Good (Steve McQueen). It's pretty great, almost magical. This band has released a lot of good music, but that one really stands out.

Turns out I do have Steve McQueen so I will have to find time to listen.

Available for months as an import, this is finally getting a US release, April 29.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IQFC0SG/?tag=imwan-20

If anyone's been on the fence about this one since it's only been an import, I highly recommend it. Even though Paddy plays all the instruments it sounds like a group album, and somehow his voice is still as strong as it's ever been. It was one of my favorite releases last year.

I picked up the import last year and it is excellent. It got me inspired to finally hunt down some of their back catalog that I was missing. Glad to see it getting a US release.