ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN Return With Strikingly Vital Album ‘APPLES FOR ISAAC’
22 September 2026
Photo Turn Up The Volume – Antwerp, Belgium
No expiration date for Liverpool‘s indestructible post-punk-pop rockers
ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN (one of my all-time fav bands, on record and
on stage), fronted by big mouth/songwriter Ian McCulloch.
They just launched their 13th longplayer, their first in 12 years,
titled APPLES FOR ISAAC. No idea who that Isaac guy is.
Album artwork
Press info: After years spent performing their immense catalog of classics to
audiences around the world, the Bunnymen have recorded an album that is as
bold as it is vulnerable, that perfectly captures the essence of what makes
the band so great.
All but one of the tracks features the late Blondie drummer
Clem Burke, who sadly passed away during its creation.
UNCUT (British music monthly magazine) says: “But elsewhere the album draws deep on Mac’s rich and strange memories of the 1970s, outside of the holy trinity of Bowie, Cohen and Reed. On an album keen not to outstay its welcome, you feel, quite reasonably, that this one should have run maybe three times as long.
‘If Apples For Isaac’ is the beginning of the descent, if it inaugurates the official start of the Bunnymen’s Late Style, this promises to be one of the great final seasons in British rock.
TUTV: Almost 50 years into their career, The Bunnymen come up with their first masterwork of the 21st Century after 4 average albums, but in the meantime, still delivering electrifying goods on their never-ending touring. It matches their 1999 LP
What Are You Gonna Do With Your Life?
Like that grand opus, this new one is a near-solo Ian McCulloch effort, musically
and lyrically. Longtime brother in arms, Will Sergeant‘s role is relatively minimal.
As the line “Is this the blues I’m singing?” goes in their 1980’s classic cracker Rescue
that sentiment is all over the place right here. At 67 McCulloch also gets gripped by melancholia, by memories of a lifetime. He translates them into his often cryptic, poetic,
and shadowy language and embeds them in a stunning series of astounding tunes enflamed by his eternally awesome voice.
The outcome is strikingly vital. Not one weak moment, and with Can’t Be Sold, Brussels Is Haunted, I’ll Be Your Sunshine, The Light That Surrounds You, Lab Rats Ran, and We Prayed In The Dark as the 24-karat gold nuggets.
At least a Top-5 album of the year. Hands down.
Singles.
– BRUSSELS IS HAUNTED –
– THE LIGHT THAT SURROUNDS YOU –
ALBUM
