Blondie’s Next Chapter: What to Expect from Their Upcoming Album
Written by Kai Palmer on 10th November 2024
They’ve kept us hanging, but its finally on its way: the incredible new-wave pioneers, Blondie, have casually announced that their new album is coming in 2025.
Not the types to be overdramatic, the first announcement dropped via Chris Stein’s Instagram on 25th October with a simple caption “New Blondie album next year” along with a picture of Debbie Harry looking at ease as she sits back in the studio.
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Another announcement dropped on Blondie’s official Instagram on 7th November with another blasé caption, “Whatever. Blondie album next year. Alea iacta est”, confirming that Stein wasn’t just having us on.
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The cryptic Latin translates to “the gamble has been cast”. The gamble being whether they actually get the album out next year? A hint towards the album name? Or maybe it’s just Stein/Harry throwing some Latin in there for the fun of it.
Whilst Blondie haven’t had much output this decade, Harry has made some interesting solo appearances on other artist’s tracks such as The Dandy Warhols, Dolly Parton and most recently Chaka Khan and Sia.
Their last album, Pollinator, was released in 2017. Sia, Joan Jett and Jonny Mar were present across the album, and it produced the excellent track Long Time, which the band included in the setlist of their recent tour.
The New York punks have still been highly active; bringing their rich catalogue of hits to the UK this year which included two dates at The Piece Hall in Halifax. They also brought an impressive and energetic set to Glastonbury last year.
Blondie performing at The Piece Hall, Halifax, 9th June 2024. Credit: Kai Palmer
However, by the time their new album is due to come out, that will have left an eight-year gap since their last full album.
Pollinator was unique as, unlike previous albums, only two tracks were co-written by Harry and Stein, the rest brought in a fusion of outside writers. Their next album may follow suit or maybe they’ll keep the writing in-house this time around.
In November 2023, Blondie brought their albums No Exit and The Curse of Blondie back to streaming services.
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No Exit ended the band’s 16-year hiatus and spawned their first No.1 in even longer, with 1999’s Maria. The title track featured Coolio (of Gangsta’s Paradise) and The Loud Allstars. The Curse of Blondie came in 2003 with tracks like Good Boys and Shakedown. In the latter, Harry raps provocatively ( “I get so bored with his shtick and his mini-minute dick / And all his high and mighty sh*t, I’m a witch / Well, well, well I wish want to throw it in a ditch”) to an alt-rock sound like that of Linkin Park in the early 2000’s.
The new attention on these albums serves as a reminder that Blondie have dynamically resculpted and morphed themselves within the realms of new-wave, punk-rock and pop, whilst incorporating a range of sub-elements within those genres.
They’ve done all that whilst taking long breaks in between and have always returned as strong as ever. So, who knows what they’ll bring next year, but it’s certain to be exciting.
There’s no word yet on which half of the year we can expect the currently untitled album, but in the words of Chris Stein, “Whatever”.
