Kevin Bronson on December 8th, 2016

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When Scotland’s favorite bickering brothers, Jim and William Reid, reunited the Jesus and Mary Chain about nine years ago, they talked of a new album. But in spite of having 15 songs written and demoed (and being circulated around the industry), they had released but one since their 1998 album “Munki:” the tune “All Things Must Pass,” which appeared on the soundtrack TV’s “Heroes” in 2008. This week, though, came the new single “Amputation” — originally titled “Dead Ends Kids” in that batch of demos — and the announcement that the new album “Damage and Joy” would be out March 24.

JAMC’s celebrated reunion for Coachella 2007, which began the whispers about a new album, seems so long ago now. “We got back together in 2007 and it was the plan then,” Jim Reed told NME last year. “We thought, ‘We’ve got a bunch of songs, this would make a pretty good Mary Chain album’ – and then there was the usual slaps and scratches between my brother and myself.” Other festivals and tour appearances (including last year’s celebration of the 30-year anniversary of “Psychocandy”) followed, but scant news about a new album until now. “Damage and Joy” was produced with bassist Martin Glover (of Killing Joke) and features drummer Brian Young and bassist Phil King (of Lush).

So how did the album finally happen? “We started to – can you believe? – listen to each other a bit more,” Jim says in the album announcement. “In the last couple of years, we’ve buried the hatchet to some degree, and thankfully not into each other. Most people who know us would say that we haven’t mellowed that much. I think it was to do with the fact, dare I say it, that wisdom comes with age. Let’s live and let live, and let’s take each other’s opinions into account.”

||| Stream: “Amputation”