My Bloody Valentine Miss ‘Two or Three Days’ New Album Deadline, Surprise Absolutely No One

When it comes to talk of a new album from My Bloody Valentine, frontman Kevin Shields' persistent claims that the disc's arrival is right around the corner fall somewhere between ex-Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o's tales of his dead girlfriend and bicyclist Lance Armstong's claims that he never used performance-enhancing drugs. In other words, nobody believes a word he says.

Yet, when Shields announced onstage during a MBV concert on Sunday (Jan. 27) in Brixton, U.K., that a follow-up to the band's iconic 1991 album ‘Loveless’ “might be out in two or three days," the news spread like wildfire. Publications from around the globe took the quote (which originally appeared in NME) and ran with it, leading eager fans to believe the as-yet-untitled disc may finally arrive this week.

"Two or three days" from Sunday would obviously mean a Tuesday or Wednesday release, but as of the Wednesday evening (in the band's hometown of Dublin, Ireland) publication of this article, we've not heard a single peep from the band.

At this point, the closest thing we've heard to a new MBV album is the previously unreleased tune titled ‘Rough Song,’ which they performed during Sunday's show. It is not known if 'Rough Song' is slated to appear on the new album, should a new album ever arrive, but Sunday's public performance was its first.

After being summarily dropped from their 'Loveless' label, Creation Records, following the album's release (and claims that it nearly bankrupt the company), MBV signed with Island Records in October 1992 for a reported $500,000 dollars. Shields has rather infamously been recording, editing and erasing material for a new record in the two decades since. In interviews, he's said that more than 60 hours of material had been recorded as early as 1999, and that at least one album (described as influenced by jungle music) had been completed and abandoned.

MBV reunited in 2008 for a an extensive tour and a slew of festival dates, and at the time, Shields told Magnet magazine that "we are 100 percent going to make another My Bloody Valentine record unless we die or something." Last November, he claimed that the new record would be released via the band’s website by the end of 2012 -- a claim that, of course, was not fulfilled.

If nothing else, the band has lined up about a dozen 2013 tour dates. The tour kicks off Feb. 5-6 in Osaka, Japan, and includes one U.S. date: a Feb. 14 (Valentine's Day!) gig in Seattle. And endlessly patient fans are still clamoring for anything MBV-related -- today, NPR reported on the orchestral version of 'To Here Knows When' recorded by Canadian soprano Rachel Zeffira that was recently uploaded to YouTube.

'To Here Knows When?' Considering the circumstances, you couldn't pick a more appropriate song title if your tried.