To some people Easter means chocolate, hot cross buns and two sweet AF bank holidays; to others it means the apocryphal story of Jesus rising from the dead to save mankind – a bit like these five bands.
1. My Bloody Valentine
Split: 1997
Reformed: 2007
How they restored our faith in music: 22 years after the release of their second album ‘Loveless’, the iconic Irish shoegazers returned in 2013 with third album ‘m b v’ – available only through the band’s website, which promptly crashed due to demand for their sublime new material. The album begins with the sumptuous sprawl of ‘She Found Now’ and ends disorientingly with the transcendent washing-machine whirl of ‘Wonder 2’. Bask in its glory and pray for their next LP, supposedly due later this year.
2. LCD Soundsystem
Split: 2011
Reformed: 2015
How they restored our faith in music: Many LCD fans were rightly pissed off when, four years after playing their ‘last ever’ show, they returned to the stage for a string of festival dates. But all was forgiven upon the release of new music, in the form of 2017 album ‘American Dream‘. Album four is arguably better than their original trio of albums, and contains a perfectly proportioned polemic in the form of ‘How Do You Sleep?’. An album to treasure.
3. Sleater Kinney
Split: 2006
Reformed: 2014
How they restored our faith in music: When Sleater-Kinney went on hiatus in 2006, punk-rock music was all the poorer for their absence. On their eventual return in 2014, guitarist and vocalist Carrie Brownstein explained: “We have to really want it”. Lucky for us, they still do – having released their vital eighth album ‘No Cities To Love‘ in 2015, they’re currently working on album nine.
4. Portishead
Split: 1999
Reformed: 2008
How they restored our faith in music: The trip-hop titans never actually split, but it was a good 10 years between their self-titled second album and ‘Third’, and the band described the intervening period as “dark”. When the psychedelic new album came, it was a different Portishead from the one we knew, the only real constants being Beth Gibbons’ haunting voice and the band’s magical ability to create unsettling worlds through their music. Judging by the latest reports, it could be years before another Portishead album – but it’ll surely be worth the wait.
5. The Stone Roses
Split: 1996
Reformed: 2011
How they restored our faith in music: 22 years after declaring himself the resurrection, Ian Brown made good on his word by reuniting the Madchester dons for a set of unforgettable shows in 2012. More came in 2013, and again in 2016 – when the band also released two new singles they’d recorded in north London’s Church Studios. They played again in June 2017, when Brown ominously said: “Don’t be sad that it’s over – be happy that it happened.” It was a beautiful thing, alright, but we still hope there’s more to come.