This year has been all about the slow reemergence of beloved '90s alt-rock band Letters To Cleo.
In February, they quietly, and without warning, used social media to change their band status to "current", promising new tunes and maybe a few live shows here and there. In May, singer Kay Hanley posted a short video of herself in the studio, busy adding some background vocals to what were believed to be new songs.
And today, we're getting legit, actual tour dates -- and a new EP.
The new record is the band's first in 17 years, and will be available to pre-order via Pledge Music with a release date of September 30. Afterwards, Letters To Cleo will head out on the road for a five-date mini-tour; it begins November 20 in San Francisco and wraps November 19 with a homecoming gig at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston.
This reunion features an original lineup of Hanley (vocals), Michael Eisenstein (guitar), Stacy Jones (drums), and Greg McKenna (guitar). “It’s a blast,” says McKenna of Letters To Cleo's re-emergence. “I mean, we spent our formative years learning how to do this stuff together. When it was done, we went out and lived our lives and now everyone’s bringing their experiences back to this at a new level of musicianship, but writing with these guys still feels effortless.”
Adds Jones on the new EP: “It feels completely unforced. It sounds like classic Cleo. But at the same time, there’s nothing nostalgic about it,”
LETTERS TO CLEO 'NEW EP' TRACK LISTING
Hitch a Ride
Back to Nebraska
Can't Say
4 Leaf Clover
Good Right Here
LETTERS TO CLEO 2016 TOUR DATES
October 20 - The Rickshaw Stop - San Francisco, CA
October 22 - The Troubadour - Los Angeles, CA
November 4 - The Double Door - Chicago, IL
November 17 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY
November 19 - The Paradise - Boston, MA
Perhaps best known for their 1994 hit "Here & Now", Letters To Cleo were active from 1990 to 2000, appearing in the 1999 Heath Ledger film 10 Things I Hate About You (which holds up remarkably well nearly 20 years later, we might add) and releasing three studio albums. They reunited in late 2007 when four original members played T.T. The Bear’s Place in Cambridge for a Jeanne Connolly benefit show, and played a handful of live dates in 2009. At last year’s Hot Stove Cool Music benefit at the Paradise in Boston, Hanley, McKenna, Eisenstein and others performed “Here & Now” and other songs. In recent years, they've found a renewed fan interest via television show Parks & Recreation.
Revisit some of the classic below...