Blondie’s Return – ‘High Noon’ Album Released after Nine Year Hiatus 

Nearly a decade has passed since Blondie released their last album, but to fans’ surprise, Debby Harrie’s High Noon is out on February 26 next year. Published via BMG, a German/American publisher, the album contains entirely new tracks and includes the final work of Blondie’s co-founding drummer Clem Burke, who passed away in April last year at 70. 

Only one track has been released so far – ‘Spectral Eyes’, the album’s opening song, which dropped last month (October 15th). Written by the Smith’s and Modest Mouse’s Johnny Marr as a B-side to one of his solo albums a few years ago, the song has been revived by Blondie, whose ever raspy voice, jaunty dance rhythms, and post-punk shouty edge bring it to life. 

The lyrics have a spiritual edge, potentially alluding to someone who is unreachable, or perhaps even passed away with ‘smashed up, crashed out’ and the commanding ‘shout: ‘I can’t hear you now. Fade in. Fade Out’ .. and ‘celestial smiles’. There is ultimately a sense of defiance yet simultaneously despair in ‘reckless laugh, there’s nothing else that you can do’. 

Unusually for a band of this vintage, Blondie’s original line up – Debbie Harry, Chris Stein and Clem Burke – were all there for the production of the album in 2022 in New York, resuming their collaboration with producer John Congleston since ‘Pollinator’ which came out in 2017. Alongside Matt Katz-Bohen on keyboards, Leigh Fox on bass and Tom Kessler on guitar, ‘High Noon’ features Blondie co-writing or performing previously written tracks by other artists outside of the band. 

Drawing in a cast of guest songwriters and players – some from Blondie’s heyday in the 1980s and 1990s – this includes Marr but also Glen Matlock, bassist from the Sex Pistols’, as well as guest vocals from Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of the more recently popular indie pop band Lucius – who have all collaborated on ‘Spectral Eyes’. 

This is not the first time Blondie has taken a collaborative approach. ‘Pollinator’ (2017) was designed as a tribute to Blondie’s legacy – with external writers such as Blood Orange co-writing ‘Long Time’ and Charlie XCX co-writing ‘Gravity’, and guest vocals including Joan Jett in ‘Doom and Destiny’. However, the use of so many musicians from other bands (unlike most of Blondie’s pre 2017 work) also poses the question of whether the new songs should be ascribed to Blondie. Although die hard Blondie fans may appreciate the new track from such a trademark 1970s band, I find the signature songs from the old albums hard to beat. 

This will be Blondie’s twelfth album of their music career – and their potential final chapter,  so keep your eyes peeled for next February and take a look at the expected album track list here. 

1. Spectral Eyes   
2. Heartbreak Kid
3. Come Back Home
4. Tambo Tambo
5. Man Without a Face
6. The End
7. Little Metal Drummer
8. Sleepwalking
9. Whistle into the Wind
10. Antifreeze
11. East of Eden
12. Bad Underwear
13. Ah, Sunflower, Weary of Time

(list taken from Spotify)

Words by Alex Plimmer.