The Jesus And Mary Chain are returning with their first album in nearly 20 years, and first studio venture since their 2007 live reunion. The new record is entitled 'Damage And Joy' and will hit shelves next year with opening song 'Amputation' already available.

The Jesus and Mary ChainThe Jesus and Mary Chain to release new album 'Damage And Joy'

'Damage And Joy' marks the band's seventh studio album and first in 18 years, following 1998's 'Munki'. It's also their first collaboration with producer Martin Glover aka Youth, the founding member of Killing Joke and producer for bands the likes of Embrace, The Verve, Alien Sex Fiend and Dido. He also played bass on the record. Frontmen Jim and William Reid, who are the only original members, explained that it's taken some time to agree on where to go with the album. 

'We started to - can you believe? - listen to each other a bit more', Jim said. 'In the last couple of years, we've buried the hatchet to some degree, and thankfully not into each other. Most people who know us would say that we haven't mellowed that much. I think it was to do with the fact, dare I say it, that wisdom comes with age. Let's live and let live, and let's take each other's opinions into account.'

The album is a long time coming when you consider that the band reunited after their 1999 split in 2007 with an appearance at that year's Coachella Festival. They've toured plenty since then, most recently last year which saw them perform numbers from their 1985 debut album 'Psychocandy'. It was last year that they first revealed they were working on an album. 'We're doing an album now. We actually just started recording', Jim told Time Out New York. 'It's early days, but I would say it's a more mature sound for the Mary Chain. But let's just wait and see.'

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'The interesting thing about this record is what comes out of the speakers', Jim said. 'To make a good record is an achievement if you're twenty-two, but to do it in your fifties, the way we are, I think is a minor miracle.'

The Jesus and Mary Chain will hit the road next week to perform four dates in the US including an appearance at Day For Night Festival in Houston, Texas on December 17th 2016. 'Damage And Joy' is set to be released on March 24th 2017 through ADA and Warner Music.