Strawberries era bassist to rejoin The Damned for Tony Visconti produced album

UK Punk legends The Damned have been around for 40 years, and they are still one of the best acts  around—spanning genres! It has been just announced that they will finally be releasing a followup to 2008’s So, Who’s Paranoid?, which was released nearly ten years ago.

Frontman Dave Vanian and Guitarist Captain Sensible will be entering a Brooklyn studio next month David Bowie’s famed producer Tony Visconti to record the currently untitled 11th LP. Visconti is no stranger to producing a band like The Damned, as he produced The Stranglers highly successful 1981 post-punk masterpiece La folie.

The Damned have also announced that bassist Stu West—who replaced Patricia Morrison back in 2004—has left the band. In his place returns classic era Damned alumni Paul Gray, who was the band’s third bassist, performing in the group from 1980 to 1983, and again in 1989 and 1996. He is known for his performances on the much loved records  Strawberries and The Black Album .

Regarding the departure of Stu the band made an official statement:

“We had a great time with Stu on this long journey. We have infinite respect for him and are forever grateful for his contributions to The Damned. As a result of this mutual understanding, we respect his decision, support him wholeheartedly and wish him the best of luck and success.”

The Damned are set to perform live on a 16-date U.K. tour in January 2018; see dates below.

The Damned ‘Evil Spirits’ U.K. tour dates:

Jan. 26: O2 Academy, Newcastle
Jan. 27: Caird Hall, Dundee
Jan. 28: O2 Academy, Glasgow
Jan. 30: O2 Academy, Leeds
Jan. 31: Academy 1, Manchester
Feb. 1: O2 Academy, Birmingham
Feb. 3: O2 Academy, Leicester
Feb. 4: Rock City, Nottingham
Feb. 6: Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone
Feb. 7: Cliffs Pavilion, Southend
Feb. 9: Great Hall, Cardiff
Feb. 10: O2 Academy, Bristol
Feb. 11: O2 Academy, Bournemouth
Feb. 13: O2 Guildhall, Southampton
Feb. 14: De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhilln
Feb. 17: O2 Forum, London