The Psychedelic Furs Unpack Their Umbrellas

Who would’ve realistically expected the Psychedelic Furs to serve up a superior quality album in 2020? Yet the three songs offered so far in advance  of the July 31 release of Made of Rain – “Don’t Believe,” “You’ll Be Mine” and “No One” – find the Furs tapping into the shadowy post-punk bag of tricks that made their best songs lasting staples for both the antisocial black trenchcoat crowd and mainstream John Hughes soundtrack consumers during the 1980s. The three songs can be downloaded by anyone pre-ordering the new album (CD, vinyl, cassette or digital in a variety of enticement packages) directly.

After splitting up in the early ‘90s, with vocalist Richard Butler spending the rest of the decade peddling the lackluster Love Spit Love, the Furs regrouped as a retro-focused touring act in 2000, but aside from one studio recording on an otherwise live album released in 2001 have released no new material until now. Made of Rain is the band’s first studio album since 1991’s World Outside.

Richard – who released an eponymous solo album in 2006 – and his bass playing brother Tim Butler are the only two founding members left in the Furs lineup. Longtime mainstay guitarist John Ashton had rejoined the band upon their reformation in 2000, but left in 2008. Saxophonist Mars Williams and drummer Paul Garisto both originally joined the Furs in 1983, and keyboardist Amanda Kramer (ex-Information Society) has been on board since 2002.

The band’s North American tour, planned for this spring, was scrapped in the wake of the coronavirus scare. A rescheduled itinerary will be announced whenever shit starts returning to normal.

Photo by Matthew Reeves.