Bauhaus are one of many legendary bands playing the already iconic Cruel World festival this May in California, but the goth and post-punk pioneers may suddenly — and rather surprisingly — have a new song in their setlist. The reunited foursome of Peter Murphy, Daniel Ash, David J, and Kevin Haskins resurfaced today (March 23) with a new song called “Drink The New Wine,” and it marks Bauhaus’ first new music in 14 years.
Then again, the way “Drink The New Wine” was conceived, it may not see the light of day (how on brand). According to Slicing Up Eyeballs, the track was assembled during the pandemic lockdown, with each member recording parts unaware of the others’ activity. A pre-recorded drum beat from Haskins was the only foundation shared amongst the quartet, who recorded their contributions separately and in isolation.
Here’s more from the YouTube description, where the track debuted on the new Bauhaus channel:
“’Drink The New Wine’ was recorded last year during lockdown with the four members sharing audio files. The track employs the Surrealists’ ‘Exquisite Corpse’ device whereby each artist adds to the piece without seeing what the others have done. Bauhaus have used this technique in the past to great effect. The title refers to the very first Cadavre exquis’ drawing rendered by André Breton, Marcel Duchamp, Jacques Prévert and Yves Tanguy which included words which when strung together made up the sentence, ‘Le cadavre exquis boiara le vin nouveau’ (‘The exquisite corpse will drink the new wine.”) For the recording, the four musicians each had one minute and eight tracks at their disposal plus a shared 60 seconds plus four tracks for a composite at the end. All done without hearing what the others had laid down. The only common link being a prerecorded beat courtesy of Kevin. The final playback came as synchronistic revelation.”
That’s pretty cool, and the track has a very classic sounding Bauhaus feel to it. Fire it up below, and check out all of Bauhaus’ upcoming live appearances, including two shows at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn this Septemer.
Bauhaus 2022 Live Dates
May 14 to 15: Cruel World Festival, Pasadena, CA
May 17: Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Portland, OR
May 20: Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA
May 21: The Masonic, San Francisco, CA
May 22: The Masonic, San Francisco, CA
May 25: Mission Ballroom, Denver, CO
May 27: The Marquee Theatre, Tempe, AZ
June 4: Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona, Spain
Aug. 24: EDP Vilar de Mouros, Vilar de Mouros, Portugal
Sept. 8: Kings Theatre, Brooklyn, NY
Sept. 9: Kings Theatre, Brooklyn, NY
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