One of Liverpool’s most mysterious and talented exports, Echo & The Bunnymen will return to Australian shores in early 2010. Following the release of their tenth studio album THE FOUNTAIN, original members Ian McCulloch (aka Mac) and Will Sergeant will bring their enigmatic live show to the St Jerome’s Laneway Festival in Australia along with sideshows in both Sydney and Melbourne.

The tour begins in Sydney with a show at the Enmore Theatre on Wednesday 27th January before heading to Brisbane for their headlining appearance at the St Jerome’s Laneway Festival on Friday 29th January. The band will then head south to Melbourne for their Laneway appearance on Saturday 30th January, followed by Sydney Laneway on Sunday 31st January. Heading back to Melbourne on Thursday 4th February, Echo & The Bunnymen will then take on the Palais Theatre before heading west for Adelaide’s Laneway on Friday 5th February. The tour then concludes in Perth at their final Laneway performance on Saturday 6th February.

The Bunnymen formed when Ian McCulloch met guitarist Will Sergeant in the summer of 1978 in Liverpool when the pair began recording demos with a drum machine that the duo called “Echo.” Thirty years on with a career steeped in cult success as avant-garde icons of the 1980s, Echo & The Bunnymen have amassed bountiful treasures during their many travels.

Last year, Echo & The Bunnymen took their ‘Ocean Rain’ show on the road – a tribute and retrospective of their celebrated 1984 release. The much lauded return to the stage saw sold out shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall, New York’s Radio City Music Hall and the Liverpool Echo Arena – all of which were also met with huge critical acclaim. Combining post-punk angst with the sort of lavish arrangements made famous by the Liverpool lads, a band rejuvenated, Echo & The Bunnymen also received enraptured recognition from critics and fans alike for their festival appearances at the Camden Crawl and Glastonbury.

Becoming cult sensations in the early 1980s, with classic albums including ‘Crocodiles’ (1980), ‘Heaven Up Here’ (1981) and enduring masterpiece ‘Ocean Rain’ (1984), Echo & the Bunnymen forged a distinct sound amongst their post-punk contemporaries (Joy Division, The Cure) grounded in swirling synths, gloomy pop and inspired psychedelia. Echo & The Bunnymen have until now had a whopping nine studio albums under their belt, with 2009’s ‘The Fountain’ being their tenth!

Ahead of their highly anticipated Australian tour in 2010, post-punk icons Echo & the Bunnymen present their brand new album, ‘The Fountain’ – this 5th December on My World Records through Inertia. A massive return to form for the U.K legends, ‘The Fountain’ is a superbly feisty album of pulsating, uplifting rock anthems.

The album boasts a widescreen, crystalline sound, which provides a big, solid undertow beneath Mac’s lyrics. “I’m just a better writer and better singer these days,” he says, “My voice has got more… honest, which fits these songs. This album is about something, rather than just sounding like it’s about something. It’s about having lived life, but still feeling like a kid. I’m a not traditional songwriter. What I do at my best is poetry.”

Echo & The Bunnymen are ready to bring Australian audiences their exciting new material, which Mac is already proudly calling “the best thing we’ve done since Ocean Rain…”

Get ready for the invocation of their big sound, goth-romantic poetry and strummed steel strings as they reclaim their legacy and reposition themselves on the rock continuum. This is one show not to be missed.

Tour dates are:

Wed 27th January Enmore Theatre, Sydney
www.ticketek.com.au 132 849

Thu 4th February Palais Theatre, Melbourne
www.ticketmaster.com.au 136 100

Laneway Festival dates are:

Fri 29th January: St Jerome’s Laneway Festival, Brisbane
Sat 30th January: St Jerome’s Laneway Festival, Melbourne
Sun 31st January: St Jerome’s Laneway Festival, Sydney
Fri 5th February: St Jerome’s Laneway Festival, Adelaide
Sat 6th February: St Jerome’s Laneway Festival, Perth

Tickets go on sale Monday December 7 for sideshows.