Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees U2 and Blondie each have fresh new music out this week, Tears for Fears expand the wildly experimental The Seeds of Love, and eels‘s new one takes inspiration from Cookie Monster.
BLONDIE – “SPECTRAL EYES”
“This album is an amalgamation of all our different influences and eras into something new,” so says Blondie about their first album in nine years, High Noon. The album that will feature the final recordings with drummer, Clem Burke, will be out February 26th.
To hold us over until the full album arrives, they’ve dropped, “Spectral Eyes.” Debbie Harry sounds a little grittier than her younger self, but she’s still firing off the lyrics with her classic enthusiasm on top of a catchy, poppy beat.
EELS – COOKIE HAPPENED
Inspiration comes from the most unlikely of places. For the existential exploration on the new eels album, COOKIE HAPPENED, they turned to none other than Cookie Monster and his philosophical mantra, “Me no cry because cookie is finished. Me smile because cookie happened.”
Sure, why not. It’s a gorgeous, lush album that has a Zen quality with frontman, E, sounding like he’s sharing his recent reflections over a beer in the seat next to you.
TEARS FOR FEARS – THE SEEDS OF LOVE
Seeds of Love, the wildly experimental third album from Tears for Fears, is getting a new expanded deluxe reissue. There’s new mixes, a half speed version of their masters from Abbey Road Studio, blue-ray versions, and colorful vinyl.
Stream • UMR/Mercury • Connect: @tearsforfears
U2 – “THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH”
U2 are masters of their craft, and “The Greatest Show on Earth,” from the soon to be released Carnaval De Luz, proves it. It’s a slow build that nods to some of the guitars of Joshua Tree, with a pulsing drum beat pushing us forward.
Bono‘s voice is center stage, a calm presence controlling the uncontrollable: love, the world, what we need to survive. It’s nostalgic for what used to be, and optimistic about what could be.
