Written by: Alex Green
It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost five years since the Stone Roses reunited.
Less hard to believe, however, is that there’s still no new music.
Let’s face it–the Manchester band has never been prolific, so this should come as no surprise.
In fact, they’d been together for almost five years before their debut came out. And six years later came the troubled follow-up Second Coming.
Fifteen years after they disbanded, they reunited and at a widely viewed press conference, they declared that new music was on the way. They reportedly had signed a multi-album deal and aside from all personal fences appearing to have been mended, they also seemed musically invigorated and ready to go. They played sold-out shows across the globe and proved that the band still had the sonic firepower to charge up an audience and soak them in cloudbursts of jangle and groove. They reminded us that not only do they have one of the most powerful rhythm sections in the business—drummer Reni still has hands that move like chopper blades, Mani’s bass lines have a dark, muscular prowl and guitarist John Squire is as technically fluid as ever—they have a singer who knows how to stalk a stage with swagger, belief, and a bizarre brand of magnetic absence, making him undeniably one of the most enigmatic and charismatic frontmen of all time.
All that was well and good, but each show seemed to echo the last and while the playlist changed a bit here and there, no new songs were debuted. Some thought the band was purposely keeping them under wraps, while others declared that there were no new songs played because, quite simply, there were no new songs to play.
Shane Meadows, who captured the band’s reunion perfectly in 2013’s Made of Stone, swore he’d been allowed to hear new songs and bassist Mani echoed this sentiment, but nary a new note has been heard since the band reformed.
More pressingly, one wonders if the band is even still together.
Their Facebook and Twitter pages are largely inactive, with the last entries dating back to 2013.
Things don’t look good.
Unless, of course, you’re willing to read into recent comments made by Noel Gallagher.
The former Oasis guitarist was on the Soccer AM show a few days ago when he was asked if he knew what was going on with the legendary band.
“Yes. I know exactly what’s going on,” he said. “They’re blooming.”
That may be clever wordplay or it may be a tip of the hand of some inside information and new ‘Roses material is around the corner.
We think it’s the former, but we’re hoping it’s the latter…
