Echo & the Bunnymen’s Brussels Is Haunted: A Beautiful, Melancholic Return to Form

I didn’t realise that Echo & the Bunnymen was still going as a band, but after hearing Brussels is Haunted, I am glad that it is.  I remember Ian McCulloch leaving the band in the late 1980s and then there was a resurrection in the late 1990s with Evergreen, but after that I lost track. They are now apparently a two-piece, with original members Will Sergeant on lead guitar and programming and Ian McCulloch on vocals, rhythm guitar and keyboards.  So, you can tell I’m not a diehard Bunnymen fan, but I think Brussels is Haunted is a great track. Plus there is a new album, Apples for Isaac coming out in September.

You can watch the video below, which is by Jef de Smet, and an intriguing, animated piece that matches the mood and the lyrics perfectly.  Even though I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t a performance of the song as such, the video is a fantastic evocation of Brussels as a place of ghosts, memories and faded glamour - a city where history, art and personal stories seem to linger in every street and square. Like the song itself, it feels both nostalgic and slightly unreal, capturing that very Bunnymen combination of beauty, mystery and melancholy.  Plus, any song that namechecks Plastic and Bert Bertrand is going to get a listen or two from me…

Brussels Is Haunted feels like Echo & the Bunnymen turning Brussels into a dreamscape where personal memories collide with European history. The city is haunted not by ghosts alone, but by wars, art, romance and lost moments - from World War I, Waterloo and World War II to the imagined threat of World War III. In classic Bunnymen fashion, melancholy, myth and destiny blur together: Brussels is haunted because we are.

As a quick aside, while I wrote this, I put Ocean Rain on – because why not? I’ve already put a sell-by date on myself by saying I remember the original split and so a little wander down memory lane wasn’t going to do me any harm.  I think almost anyone of my generation will recognise the opening chords of Silver – the first track on the album and although I believe that most people will say The Killing Moon is the standout track on the album, for me it’s The Yo Yo Man.  It’s amazing to think how the Bunnymen pumped out four brilliant albums over the first five years of the 1980s (and that we took it for granted!).  I seem to remember McCulloch describing Ocean Rain as the greatest album ever made – and he wasn’t that far wrong, frankly.   Brussels Is Haunted is pretty good, too… and after decades of Bunnymen mythology, perhaps the only thing left is to mythologise the mythology itself.

Alien Ant Farm – Reason (Official Video) - An Emotional Rock Track with Creeptoons Animation

My maths is not very good at the best of times, but if Alien Ant Farm formed in 1996, then this year is their thirtieth anniversary as a band.  That’s a long time to hold down the same job, but as this song – and the gloriously macabre Creeptoons animation that goes with it – shows, the band can still pump out a banger after three decades.  The end of that sentence sounds a little bit rude, reading it back, but no innuendo was intended, promise.  Some people are calling Reason a return to form (or just a return, frankly).  However, to most people, this will sound exactly like what it is – a great rock and roll number.

The lyrics center on themes of accountability, healing, and personal demons, with the singer expressing sincere apologies to a partner – “I swear to God, I won’t break your heart” is a great line by its virtuoso simplicity.  The song has emotional rock vocals from Dryden Mitchell paired with driving guitar and rhythm sections. The animation mirrors the intensity and raw emotion of the lyrics, particularly highlighting the struggle to overcome internal obstacles and the desire for reconciliation. It is a great accompaniment to the track - and the band look great with a zillion teeth each.  Plus the sight of a giant alien ant rampaging through a city is something to behold!

Watch Alien Ant Farm’s Reason below.

Muse Return to Sci-Fi Glory in Stunning New “Cryogen” Official Video

Ahead of their North American tour, Muse have just released the official video for Cryogen.  Many fans are agreeing that the song, as well as the official video, show a return to form for the British band (and the space croissant is back too!).   The video leans heavily into the band’s well-know sci-fi aesthetic.  There’s icy space imagery, themes of isolation and something darker, mor emotional than some of their recent singles. Plus the scale is truly cinematic – this would look (even more) awesome on the big screen.

Fans have already comparing the atmosphere to older Muse eras like Origin of Symmetry and Black Holes and Revelations because of the spiralling guitar riffs and apocalyptic visuals.   Although it is hard to disagree, to me this also feels and sounds different - a return and a departure?

Muse fans have also been claimed that this is the closest the band has come in years to recapturing the eerie grandeur of their early work. One fan declared that the song “genuinely channels the intensity, atmosphere, and ambition that made early Muse so compelling in the first place”, while another joked that “nature decided to cosplay as a horror movie” after discovering that the blood-red Antarctic waterfall shown in the video is a real phenomenon known as Blood Falls. Elsewhere, viewers marvelled at the band’s now fully cosmic aesthetic - “I always knew that Muse came from another planet!” wrote one commenter - while others focused on the music itself, especially the climactic finale, praising “that killer outro” and the moment “where they all get a mini solo”. Predictably, the fanbase also found time to worry about drummer Dominic Howard, with one popular comment pleading: “here to not break Dom’s heart.”