Twenty-two years after the release their genre-defining magnum opus Loveless, My Bloody Valentine has released a new record. I’ll give you a moment to let that sink in.
After two decades of rumors, scrapped albums, and hiatuses, the Dublin-based shoegaze pioneers unleashed their third album, m b v, upon the world at exactly 11:58 pm on February 2, 2013. Within moments of the album’s release, the band’s website catastrophically crashed due to the massive flood of traffic. It was a historic moment, and one that many never thought would come, but one question still remained: was the album worth the wait?
Seeing as I haven’t yet been alive for a full twenty-two years, I don’t think I’m at liberty to decide if that’s too long to wait for a record. However, I can confidently say that m b v is an amazing album.
All of what made the band’s early releases great is still intact, but updated with modern production techniques and a few fresh stylistic twists. Gauzy, fuzz-addled layers of guitars crash over top a prominent rhythm section, with whispy, androgynous vocal melodies lilting high in the mix. “Only Tomorrow” is one of the highlights of the new record, and a perfect example of why My Bloody Valentine is a spectacular band, despite making us wait a quarter of a century for new material.