Advance Stream: Echo & The Bunnymen

36 years after their formation Echo & The Bunnymen are on the eve of releasing their 12th record Meteorites the anticipated follow up to 2009’s The Fountain.

For all the classic Bunnymen hallmarks – frontman Ian McCulloch’s aching, velvety tenor, Will Sergeant’s shimmering guitar work, the new album’s most striking feature is its unprecedented and startling lyrical candour.

“For me, this is a whole new approach. It’s more edgy than anything I’ve ever done. I’m dealing with something on this record I didn’t want to deal with for a long time” says McCulloch.

About was a year ago McCulloch found himself in a dark place, years of rock excess and running away from personal problems had left him feeling adrift and unsettled.

After leading Echo & The Bunnymen through 35 years of epic highs and turbulent lows, the singer realised it was time to take a break and look inwards. Although the group’s last album, 2009’s The Fountain, had been enthusiastically received, McCulloch’s songwriting partnership with Bunnymen guitarist Will Sergeant had virtually ground to a halt.

From McCulloch’s battles Meteorites unexpectedly began to take shape. Holed up in his Liverpool flat, mired in self-reflection, McCulloch started writing music on a bass guitar that was lying around, a process that instantly proved cathartic and fruitful. “Straight away I felt better for it,” he explains. “I had been thinking of taking five years off on an island, or whatever, but suddenly all these songs came from nowhere. It was really exciting and fresh. This record’s about my personal journey, my rebirth, even if it is a Bunnymen record.”

Meteorites is out now here in Australia via 429 Records/ UMA. Buy the album on iTunes here.