Durutti Column returns with first album in 16 years
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- Durutti Column will release "Renascent" at the end of July — their first new music in 16 years — featuring Vini Reilly, Bruce Mitchell and Keir Stewart
- The group's current reach includes sampling by Blood Orange on "Essex Honey," a citation by Harry Styles on "Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally," plus work by Mark William Lewis and Yung Lean, and placement on the TV show "The Bear"
- Active since 1978, the band was the first act to sign to Factory Records, though Reilly said his debut was compiled against his will by producer Martin Hannett
- Alexis Petridis gave a five-star reappraisal of last year's reissued debut "The Return of the Durutti Column," writing that "there's nothing to tie the music here to a specific era, which means it hasn't dated"
- Reilly suffered a stroke that required him to relearn guitar and told the Guardian in 2023 he had "a good excuse to stop" because of arthritis — yet returned with the new record
- Reilly has also worked with Morrissey during his career
- Guardian readers can submit questions for Reilly by 23 June; selected answers will appear on Guardian Music
Why it matters: A 46-year-old band dropping their first record since 2009 while being sampled by Blood Orange and cited by Harry Styles shows Reilly's "sunlit" guitar minimalism has crossed from cult status into mainstream reference points — and his return after a stroke and arthritis makes this a comeback against medical odds, not just a nostalgia cycle.
