[Video] Blondie Announce 'High Noon,' First New Album in Nine Years, Due February 26; Lead Single 'Spectral Eyes' Out Now
Rock band Blondie announced on October 15 that their 12th studio album, High Noon, will be released on February 26, 2027, via BMG. It is the band's first collection of new material in nine years, following 2017's Pollinator, and contains 13 tracks. The lead single and album opener, 'Spectral Eyes,' is out now, with a visualiser video published on the band's official YouTube channel.
'Spectral Eyes' was written by Johnny Marr, who also plays guitar on the track. Other contributors across the album include Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock, Zach Condon of Beirut, and Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius. Sessions began in New York City in 2022 with producer John Congleton, who also produced Pollinator, with David Wrench later joining for additional production and mixing; much of the recording was done with the musicians playing together in the same room.
High Noon is also the final recording of co-founding drummer Clem Burke, who died in April 2025 at age 70. When work began in 2022, the band had no way of knowing the sessions would become his last with Blondie. Several songs connect directly to the band's early history: guitarist Chris Stein wrote 'Heartbreak Kid' with Johnny Thunders in mind and co-wrote 'Man Who Had No Face' with singer Debbie Harry; Matlock wrote 'Sleepwalking'; and 'Little Metal Drummer' revisits a song from founding keyboardist Jimmy Destri's 1981 solo album Heart on a Wall, whose original recording also featured Harry and Burke.
In a statement, Harry called the album 'classic Blondie,' an amalgamation of the band's different influences and eras shaped into something new, and said the music feels grounded in the present. Stein said the band was grateful for fans' support over the years after a long, strange ride. Artist and director Rob Roth, whose work with Blondie dates to 1999's No Exit, developed the album's visuals with Untold Studios, spanning the artwork, visualisers and an upcoming Roth-directed short film featuring music from High Noon. The album is available to pre-order now.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Blondie主唱黛比·哈里，2024年1月在鹿特丹国际电影节留影。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，Vera de Kok 摄于2024年1月27日，CC BY-SA 4.0 授权 / Photo: Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in January 2024. Source: Wikimedia Commons, by Vera de Kok, January 27, 2024, CC BY-SA 4.0.
