My Bloody Valentine 'Finished' with New Album
by David Greenwald, L.A. | December 26, 2012 1:47 EST

In an announcement 21 years in the making, say they're finished with a new album.

On Dec. 21, the group "finished mastering the new album!," per My Bloody Valentine's Facebook page.

The ear-rattling shoegaze band has been legendarily quiet on the release front since 1991's landmark "Loveless," though recent years have seen the group become increasingly productive. After a series of 2008 reunion gigs, the group's continued to play shows, reissuing remastered versions of albums "Loveless," "Isn't Anything" and a collection of EPs in the UK earlier this year.

With a few days left, the new set may yet see release in 2012. As far back as 2007, manager Vinita Joshi told Billboard the group would digitally self-release its next album, along with a probable vinyl release. Frontman Kevin Shields appeared to be on course with that strategy in a more recent NME interview, telling the mag it would be released online by year-end -- with an additional EP to follow.

"I think with this record, people who like us will immediately connect with something. Based on the very, very few people who've heard stuff - some engineers, the band, and that's about it - some people think it's stranger than 'Loveless,'" Shields told the magazine. "I don't. I feel like it really frees us up, and in the bigger picture it's 100% necessary."

My Bloody Valentine has lined up a number of dates for next year, with three UK shows coming in March and a headlining performance set for Tokyo Rocks in May.

My Bloody Valentine's 'Loveless' Follow-Up Coming This Year
by Jason Lipshutz, N.Y. | November 07, 2012 1:50 EST

My Bloody Valentine plans to release the long-anticipated follow-up to its shoegaze masterpiece, 1991's "Loveless," before the end of 2012.

In an interview with NME, band leader Kevin Shields says that the new album will at long last be released on his website this year. An EP of brand new material will follow and presumably be released in 2013.

"I think with this record, people who like us will immediately connect with something," says Shields of the forthcoming album. "Based on the very, very few people who've heard stuff - some engineers, the band, and that's about it - some people think it's stranger than 'Loveless'. I don't. I feel like it really frees us up, and in the bigger picture it's 100 percent necessary."

"Loveless," the Irish collective's second album following 1988's "Isn't Anything," has become a critically beloved rock classic and sold 293,000 copies in the U.S. since its 1991 release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. A follow-up album has been in the works for roughly two decades, which included a long period of inactivity before the band played its first live shows in fifteen years in 2008.

My Bloody Valentine will headline the Tokyo Rocks Festival in May 2013, where they have promised to play new material.