My Bloody Valentine's 'm b v' turns 10

On February 2, 2013, Kevin Shields stunned much of the music community by doing something he’d been saying he was going to do for 20 years: release a new My Bloody Valentine album. By that point, most fans had given up on it ever happening, even though they’d been back in action and touring for a few years. On Christmas Eve 2012 they wrote on their Facebook that a record was finished and would be coming soon. Fans were skeptical. Then in late January at a London show, Shields told the crowd that the album would be released in “two or three days.” Could this possibly be true?

It took six days, but yes was true. It caught everyone even more off-guard in that it was noon on a Saturday (UK time). The band posted on their Facebook a link to their just-relaunched website with the new record, tilted m b v, instantly available. It broke the internet, figuratively, and definitely broke My Bloody Valentine’s website as it struggled with the massive amounts of traffic.

So which was the bigger shock — that noted noise perfectionist Kevin Shields actually said “I’m done” and released the first My Bloody Valentine album in 22 years, or that he still had the power to blow minds? (Eardrums, we never had a doubt.) Many, many other groups have cribbed from Loveless and Isn’t Anything, but nobody else does it quite like this, mixing grungy drones and gossamer melodies, the heaviest guitars and pop perfection. Beautiful, crushing, and innovative, m b v proved some things are actually worth the wait.

Later in the year, we talked to Kevin Shields about the record and its release. “That old way of doing things just doesn’t make sense to me anymore,” he said. Records have a different lifespan now. The industry doesn’t really know what’s going on. They used to be able to control things by the way records were distributed but that’s now gone to a certain degree. It didn’t feel so strange, the way we released the record. We finished it and just stuck it out there.”

Shields has been talking about a new album and EPs almost since the release of m b v, and in 2021 the band signed to Domino which saw new vinyl reissues of their catalogue. My Bloody Valentine have been pretty quiet for the last year. We’ll not speculate on a new music but welcome it with open arms if and when it comes. Whenever you’re ready, Kevin.

Ten years on, m b v fits in wonderfully next to Isn’t Anything and Loveless. You can pick it up on vinyl in the BV shop and stream it below.