Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder & Bez form new group Mantra of the Cosmos w/ Ride’s Andy Bell

Shaun Ryder and Bez of Happy Mondays and Black Grape have formed a new band, Mantra of the Cosmos, with Andy Bell (Ride, Oasis) and drummer Zak Starkey (The Who). According to Ryder, the group are signed to BMG and have an album on the way.

“It’s a bit of a mixture of all that lot together," Ryder told The Sun, saying we won't have to wait too long to hear them. “It doesn’t sound like the Mondays or Black Grape or Oasis or The Who, it’s what we’re doing all together. It’s coming out very soon. We’re doing Glastonbury with Mantra Of The Cosmos this year…It’s coming out pretty soon.“

You can watch a "coming soon" teaser with just a snippet of music (mostly drums) below.

Happy Mondays were to have played NYC and LA shows in March, but those wound up getting quietly canceled. Shaun is also currently on reality competition series I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here South Africa.

Meanwhile, Ride are also working on a new album, toured with The Charlatans earlier this year, and will be back this fall to play Seattle's Bumbershoot festival where they'll perform Going Black Again in full. Bell also has an ambient album on the way.