Roadrunner Records have signed up the legends that are The Cult. All current members of the band - including founding members Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy - are back in the studio recording their first studio album since 2001, which should be released by Roadrunner in association with the band's own label New Wilderness in late September.
Commenting on both the new deal and new album, Astbury told CMU: "We have always dreamed of finding a label that allows us artistic freedom and has the muscle to get the music to the people. At the heart of this recording is an urban directness of savage rawness and an earnestness that is the centre of any great rock and roll band".
Meanwhile, Roadrunner A&R types Derek Oliver and Dante Bonutto said in a statement yesterday: "What's especially great about The Cult is their instinctive ability to live in the present, not just reflecting current taste but actually helping to shape it - something you can hear in Ian's contributions to the UNKLE project. They have a magnificent and hugely influential history, but when you bring the classic and the contemporary crashing together in the way that Ian and Billy can, it gives real potential for this new album to be their most exciting ever".
The Cult will tour Europe with The Who next month, as well as playing a number of headline shows and festival sets.