Bella UnionNewcastle-upon-tyne’s Lanterns On The Lake were one of the more luminous discoveries of SXSW 2011, their intimate yet expansive sounds filling the space-folk void left in my heart by the likes of Mojave 3. Their 2011 debut Gracious Tide, Take Me Home focused more on the folk than the space, the more dynamic elements evident in their live show muted in favour of elegance, but was still a strong debut that promised even more to come.

That “more” is impressively realized on their second effort, Until The Colours Run, with the crashing electric guitars of opening track “Elodie” immediately signalling that this record will not be a retread of the first. Remarkably, as much as Colours pushes their sound to massive-sounding heights, be it by distortion pedals or string swells, it never comes at the expense of the fragile heart of their music. To extend the aquatic theme that runs through the band’s work, if Tides situated the listener on the shore where they could marvel at the band’s seemingly still and deep beauty, Colours takes them out onto the open water where that placidity is proven to be just an illusion, but Hazel Wilde’s soothing vocals act as a lifeboat against the tumult from which one can safely marvel at it all. A marvellous work.

Until The Colours Run will be out on October 7 in the UK and January 14 in North America; a long way off to be sure, but hopefully a sign that it will be properly promoted – like with a tour. In the meantime, Clash has an advance stream of the record with track-by-track annotations from Wilde, and Bristol 247 has an interview with the band.

Video: Lanterns On The Lake – “Until The Colours Run”
Video: Lanterns On The Lake – “Another Tale From Another English Town”
Stream: Lanterns On The Lake / Until The Colours Run

Johnny Flynn takes Drowned In Sound on a track-by-track walkthrough of his new long-player Country Mile, out this week.

Dummy has premiered a stream of Laura Groves’ – née Blue Roses – new EP Thinking About Thinking, available to purchase as of today.

Stream: Laura Groves / Thinking About Thinking

Canada wins as CBC Music has a stream – accessible from north of the 49th only – of Anna Calvi’s new album One Breath ahead of its release next week on October 8. Don’t worry, non-Canucks, I’m sure a less geoblocked stream will be available soon, and you can at least read this interview at The Irish Times. But in the meantime, I’ll just enjoy this record while I wait four hours for my free doctor’s appointment. Update: Spin has a Spotify stream for US readers/listeners/existers.

Stream: Anna Calvi / One Breath

If you were wondering if and when all those extra songs that were recorded alongside that which would become David Bowie’s The Next Day would come out – allegedly they had enough for a second album – wonder no more. The Line Of Best Fit reports that an expanded, three-disc version of Bowie’s comeback album will be released on November 4 and in addition to a DVD containing the album’s videos, there’ll be a bonus disc of eight new tracks – although four have already appeared on deluxe and international editions – and two remixes, including one by LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy. And oh yeah, if you haven’t been to see David Bowie Is at the Art Gallery of Ontario, definitely do so – it’s amazing. And while he didn’t do anything so obvious as show up to mark its opening last week, he has participated by offering a reading list of his favourite books to Open Book Toronto.

Nylon checks in with Dev Hynes of Blood Orange, whose second album is meant to be out before the end of the year. Update: Cupid Deluxe is out November 18; details at DIY.

NME talks to Guy Garvey about the new record from Elbow, which they’ve just announced will be coming out on March 10 under a title to be announced later. And, as The Guardian reports, those who preorder the record and buy tickets for their just-announced UK tour next Spring will get the option of purchasing a previously-unreleased live CD/DVD set; information which really doesn’t do their North American fans any good, but there you go.

The Guardian gets to know Arthur Beatrice, whose full-length debut will be out early next year.

They’re still not saying anything about a new record but The Blue Walrus has just premiered a third new song from Anglo-Canadian trio The High Wire and yeah it makes us want that new record whatever/whenever it’s coming. Update: The album is due out in early 2014.

Stream: The High Wire – “Under A Spell”

NPR has a World Cafe session with Pet Shop Boys, who’ve just released a video for the next single from Electric.

Video: Pet Shop Boys – “Thursday”

The Scotsman talks to James Dean Bradfield of Manic Street Preachers.

NPR and Pitchfork have interviews with CHVRCHES, while over at The Guardian frontwoman Lauren Mayberry pens a powerful editorial about fighting the culture of online misogyny.

Peter Hook updates Rolling Stone on the legal status of those dumpster-dived Joy Division masters from a little while back.

And while the website doesn’t really tell you anything useful, it should be known that Trans – who made their live debut at the Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia this past weekend as per NME – is one half Jackie McKeown of Scottish bands Yummy Fur and 1990s, and one half Bernard Butler, the former Suede guitarist who had previously sworn off live performance in favour of studio work and production. Their debut single is out next week and self-described as, “A cross between Can and Television, a freeform guitar-sparring extension along the path trodden by Quicksilver Messenger Service. Two era-defining guitarists, free from restrictions, undertaking new sonic explorations, this is a project of pure, glorious artistic impulse” and GUYS BERNARD BUTLER PLAYED LIVE OMG.

Eliot Lee HazelIf hype were actual currency, you could trade in copies of Scottish trio CHVRCHES’ debut album The Bones Of What You Believe for bars of gold, their buzz-versus-time graph having steadily grown over the last year, successfully buoying them through three North American tours of increasing stature and scale before their first full-length was in stores.

These heightened expectations might seem to demand a big record, but those who were in attendance at the band’s first Toronto show in March – hardly a powerhouse live show with two-thirds of the band anchored to their keyboard stations and frontwoman Lauren Mayberry personable but not exactly owning the stage with her presence – can attest that it’s the small aspects of the band that give them their charm, an opinion borne out by Bones.

The karaoke versions of these songs might easily be mistaken for M83 numbers, with their big synth textures and singalong melodies reaching unashamedly skywards, Mayberry’s sweet voice and the melancholic-to-miserable sentiments it delivers keeps things grounded and resonant at a human scale. It’s understandable if the lyrics aren’t the first things that the listener notices – the big gleaming hooks around them, both instrumental and vocal, do tend to grab one’s attention – but they do offer welcome substance to the proceedings and add an extra dimension that helps them exceed expectations. To be clear: even if Mayberry was singing nonsensical verses about squirrels and tapioca these songs would be earworms of the highest order, but that there’s heart and intelligence here as well makes Bones a record that will merit plays well after the hype machine has moved onto the next big thing.

The Bones Of What You Believe is out this week on September 24 and NPR has a stream of the album. Consequence Of Sound, Billboard, The Wall Street Journal, and The Scotsman have features on the band and their ascent and CBC Music has a video session.

MP3: CHVRCHES – “The Mother We Share”
Video: CHVRCHES – “The Mother We Share”
Video: CHVRCHES – “Gun”
Video: CHVRCHES – “Recover”
Stream: CHVRCHES / The Bones Of What You Believe

The Independent gets to know Daughter, in town for a show at The Phoenix on September 29.

MusicOmh talks to Johnny Flynn, who is streaming a new song from his forthcoming album Country Mile, hitting stores September 30.

Stream: Johnny Flynn – “Fol-De-Rol”

Yuck have released a new video from their forthcoming second record Glow & Behold, out September 30.

Video: Yuck – “Middle Sea”

Rolling Stone has made another song from the Neil Hasltead-fronted Black Hearted Brother available to download; their debut Stars Are Our Home comes out October 22.

MP3: Black Hearted Brother – “This Is How It Feels”

Under The Radar has posted the excerpts of the interview with Charli XCX that went into last issue’s cover story. She plays Wrongbar on November 9.

The Fader is streaming a new song from London’s Arthur Beatrice – introduced back in July – taken from their full-length debut, due out early next year.

Stream: Arthur Beatrice – “Grand Union”

Katie Harkin of Sky Larkin talks to DIY and The Yorkshire Evening Post about their new album Motto.

The Guardian, Exclaim, The National Post, and Stereogum talk to Elvis Costello and The Roots about their just-released collaborative album Wise Up Ghost.

Summer Camp takes The Quietus on a track-by-track tour of their new record Summer Camp.

JAM and Pitchfork have feature interviews with Arctic Monkeys.

The Wall Street Journal has a video session with Laura Marling, who has just released a new video from her latest album Once I Was An Eagle.

Video: Laura Marling – “Devil’s Resting Place”

Noisey, The Georgia Straight, and City Pages interview Savages.

PopMatters talks to Tracyanne Campbell of Camera Obscura, who just gave birth to her first child. Congratulations!

Metro finds out what Johnny Marr thinks of Queen.

The Toronto Star caught up with Peter Hook before his visit to town last week.

Berlin Beat talks to David Lewis Gedge of The Wedding Present.

Paolo ZerbiniI’m sure it’s purely coincidence, but it’s a hell of one that the title of If You Wait, the 2013 debut from London Grammar, is but one word apart from If You Leave, the 2013 debut Daughter. After all, both are London-based, female-fronted three-pieces with atmospheric aesthetics, singular vocal signatures, and who plumb the depths of the heart’s frailties for lyrical inspiration.

But while they occupy a similar space, London Grammar stake out their own territory. A ways away from Elena Tonra’s wistful sigh of a voice, Hannah Reid’s rich, husky alto is clearly a powerful instrument akin to Florence Welch’s but rather than use it to blow the doors off, she keeps it set on a deep and steady soul-infused smoulder that expresses her wounded sentiments in rich tones. The musical accompaniment, built largely around guitar and piano, is sparse by default but more than able to swell for effect and works well in adding to the twilight ambience. One does wish that Dan Rothman’s lines and style – palm-muted and echoed – was a little less xx-marks-the-spot, but there’s no arguing its effectiveness in this context.

If there’s a complaint to be made about If You Wait, it’s in that the London Grammar aesthetic is a little too defined and consistently applied and over the course of the record starts feeling a bit monochromatic. It feels like a photograph of something beautiful, viewable from a single angle, than a living, breathing thing – more than acceptable for now, but a limitation they’ll have to transcend sooner rather than later.

NME reports that If You Wait is presently the odds-on favourite to win the Mercury Prize, the shortlist of which will be announced tomorrow and whose winner will be announced October 30. The West Australian and The Guardian have feature pieces on London Grammar and The Line Of Best Fit has a video of their covering La Roux for BBC’s Live Lounge. If You Wait is out today, September 10, and their inaugural North American tour brings them to Toronto for a show at The Great Hall on October 4.

Video: London Grammar – “Strong”
Video: London Grammar – “Wasting My Young Years”

The Guardian has a stream of Summer Camp’s second self-titled album, out now, while The Fly has a feature piece on the duo and Noisey gets them to go through and comment on their old photo albums.

Stream: Summer Camp / Summer Camp

Interview, Spin, The Telegraph, Tone Deaf, and The Fly mark today’s release of Arctic Monkeys’ AM with feature interviews; they play The Kool Haus on September 15.

DIY and vita.mn talk to CHVRCHES as the September 24 release date of their debut The Bones Of What You Believe draws near; but first they play The Danforth Music Hall on September 15.

NPR is streaming the new Elvis Costello/Roots collaboration Wise Up Ghost ahead of its September 17 release date.

Stream: Elvis Costello with The Roots / Wise Up Ghost

Peter Hook updates The Hollywood Reporter on the attempts to take possession of those Joy Division/New Order master tapes rescued from the trash recently. And as you can assume from the word “attempts”, they’re not going well. Hook plays The Hoxton on September 18.

Pitchfork has got a stream of another new track from Laura Groves, nee Blue Roses, taken from her new EP Thinking About Thinking, due out September 30.

Stream: Laura Groves – “Pale Shadows”

Yuck has released an in-studio video of them getting their New Order on; their second album Glow & Behold comes out September 30.

Video: Yuck – “Age Of Consent”

Frightened Rabbit play a video session for The Line Of Best Fit from a pirate ship at the End Of The Road festival; they are at The Kool Haus on October 21.

The 405 talks to Polly Scattergood, who has released a new video from her second album Arrows, originally set for a June release but now locked in to an October 21 street date.

Video: Polly Scattergood – “Cocoon”

MTV Hive has an interview and NPR a World Cafe session with Franz Ferdinand, who’ve just put out a new video from Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action; they play The Kool Haus October 24.

Video: Franz Ferdinand – “Evil Eye”

Though still coy about details of a new album, The High Wire have made another new song available to download.

MP3: The High Wire – “The Thames & The Tide”

The xx tell NME they’re already at work on album number three.

Little Boots has released a new video from Nocturnes.

Video: Little Boots – “Satellite”

NME and Billboard talk to Billy Bragg about being recognized for his “outstanding contribution to music” by the UK’s Association of Independent Music.

The Guardian talks to James Allan of Glasvegas.

God Is In The TV has an interview with Chris Olley of Six By Seven.

The Wedding Present are streaming a new single which will be available for sale as a 7″ on their upcoming UK tour.

Stream: The Wedding Present – “Two Bridges”

NPR marks the 20th anniversary of Britpop with a playlist of the scene’s best.

Andrew KnowlesThe biggest releases of last week both happened to be Scottish in nationality. There was Franz Ferdinand’s fourth long-player Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, which was the topic of conversation with Alex Kaparnos at NPR, Billboard, Canada.com, and DIY, while Kapranos and Bob Hardy both chat with Stereogum and Paul Thomson answers the phone when CBC calls. Further, Pitchfork has video of that acoustic Grimes cover the band played for French radio that everyone was linking to last week. They play The Kool Haus come October 24.

Meanwhile, with their new b-sides comp The Third Eye Centre finally out, Belle & Sebastian have released a new video featuring Hannah Murray from Skins and Game Of Thrones. Under The Radar has compiled their multi-part interview with the band into a single piece, PopMatters has a chat with Richard Colburn, and over at The Quietus, Stuart Murdoch opts to talk about other peoples’ records rather than his own.

Video: Belle & Sebastian – “Your Cover’s Blown” (Miaoux Miaoux remix)

James Allan talks to The Quietus, MusicRadar, and Yahoo! about Glasvegas’ new album Later… When The TV Turns To Static. It wasn’t alluded to in the lede, despite being Scottish, because a) it came out this week and not last week, and b) not many people care anymore.

Arctic Monkeys are streaming a new b-side which doesn’t appear on AM, due out September 10. And if you only care about the songs which do appear on the album, you’re in luck – the whole thing is now streaming at iTunes. Arctic Monkeys are at The Kool Haus on September 15.

Stream: Arctic Monkeys – “Stop The World I Want To Get Off With You”
Stream: Arctic Monkeys / AM

Drowned In Sound talks to London Grammar, who are offering a full stream of their debut album If You Wait via their own website with just a few hoops to jump through. The record is out September 10 and they play The Great Hall on October 4.

Stream: London Grammar / If You Wait

In a video session for Gigwise, Frightened Rabbit offer up a cover of Jessie Ware’s “Wildest Moments” and another track from the Late March, Death March EP, out September 10, is available to stream via Stereogum. They play The Kool Haus on October 17.

Stream: Frightened Rabbit – “Candlelit”

Savages have premiered a new performance video from Silence Yourself at Pitchfork; they play The Opera House on September 12.

Video: Savages – “I Am Here”

Gigwise and MusicRadar check in with CHVRCHES, whose debut The Bones Of What You Believe is almost finally out on September 24 but not before they headline the Danforth Music Hall on September 15.

James Dean Bradfield of Manic Street Preachers talks to Wales Online about their new album Rewind The Film, while Nicky Wire takes The Quietus through the new record track by track. And NME has posted the whole of their recent Wire-led Twitter Q&A. Rewind The Film is out September 16.

The Quietus looks at the many, many collaborations Elvis Costello has undertaken in his career, the latest of which is Wise Up Ghost with The Roots, due out September 17. Costello talks to The Brisbane Times about the new record.

Peter Hook talks about matters past, present, future, and legal with Billboard, Pitchfork, The Huffington Post, Exclaim, and The Dumbing Of America. He leads his new band The Light through old material at The Hoxton on September 18.

Daughter are streaming a new b-side; they play The Phoenix on September 29.

Stream: Daughter – “Smoke”

Yuck talks to Rolling Stone about carrying on without their original frontman, as documented on their new album Glow & Behold, out September 30.

Two Door Cinema Club have released a video for the title track of their new Changing Of The Seasons EP, due out September 30; NME has details. They play The Danforth Music Hall on October 15.

Video: Two Door Cinema Club – “Changing Of The Seasons”

Anna Calvi has released the first video from her forthcoming One Breath, out October 7.

Video: Anna Calvi – “Eliza”

Lanterns On The Lake have released a video for the title track of their new album Until The Colours Run, which is due out on October 7 in the UK and will get a North American release early next year on January 14.

Video: Lanterns On The Lake – “Until The Colours Run”

The Line Of Best Fit reports Suede will finally reissue their entire catalog on vinyl on October 21, but the catch is you have to buy them all in one super-expensive box set, it’s only available in the UK, and you have to take A New Morning with the rest. And oh, they released a new video from Bloodsports.

Video: Suede – “For The Strangers”

Los Campesinos! have confirmed an October 29 release date for their new record No Blues, and have made the first track from it available to stream.

Stream: Los Campesinos! – “What Death Leaves Behind”

M.I.A. is streaming another new track from her forthcoming Matangi, out November 5.

Stream: M.I.A. – “Come Walk With Me”

The Charli XCX show originally scheduled for September 16 at The Hoxton has been rescheduled to Saturday, November 9, and will now take place at Wrongbar. All previous tickets will be honoured and all the new dates can be seen at Exclaim.

MP3: Charli XCX – “Valentine”

Drowned In Sound checks in with Josh Hayward of The Horrors on the status of their next album, due out in early 2014.

Drowned In Sound chats with David Gedge of The Wedding Present, who will be undertaking an exhaustive reissue series of their back catalog in the near future; FACT has details on that.

Tessa Murray talks to Vogue about the new Still Corners video from Strange Pleasures.

Video: Still Corners – “Fireflies”

Under The Radar and Pitchfork talk to Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream.

With the assistance of Hefner’s Darren Hayman, Allo Darlin’ frontwoman Elizabeth Morris has put together a solo EP entitled Optimism, available for digital purchase now.

eMusic has an interview with Billy Bragg.

thecharlatans.netSad, sad news out of the UK yesterday when it was announced that Jon Brookes, drummer and founding member of The Charlatans, had passed away of brain cancer. The condition first surfaced during a 2010 North American tour that forced the cancellation of a number of dates, but until recently appeared to have been successfully treated, allowing Brookes to continue playing and recording with the band as recently as this Summer, with the band working on new material. Brookes was 44.

It’s not the first tragedy to befall the band – original keyboardist Rob Collins was killed in a car crash in 1996 – but in the almost 25 years of the band’s existence they’ve proven to be amazingly resilient, outlasting pretty much all of their Madchester and Britpop peers while building a really remarkable catalog of albums and singles. If any outfit could find the strength to carry on after such a loss – should they choose to – it’d be The Charlatans.

I feel fortunate to have caught them live at The Kool Haus in early 2002 circa Wonderland, their second-to-last visit (I believe) before a 2006 show at The Phoenix for Simpatico. It wasn’t supposed to be so, but the band were snakebit in their attempts to come back to support 2008’s You Cross My Path and 2010’s Who We Touch; for the former, they scheduled, cancelled, rescheduled, and re-cancelled a date at The Mod Club in Fall of 2009, eventually nixing the tour to allow Brookes to have shoulder surgery and their last attempt in September 2010 – which would have brought them to Lee’s Palace – was scrubbed after Brookes had a seizure in Philadelphia two nights before the show.

I’d been largely nonplussed about the band’s output this century, but those last couple records were genuinely solid and I had been quite excited to see them live again – especially in such small rooms – so those cancellations were extra disappointing. For that last Lee’s show, I’d already gone ahead and done the legwork of linking up their entire videography as I try to do for live reviews, and have actually had all of that HTML saved in a draft post for the past three years in hopes that they’d finally return and I could use it. Whatever happens with the future of the band, that return seems unlikely in the near term so I’ll instead post them as a tribute to Brookes and the band. Rest in peace, sir, and thanks for the music.

Video: The Charlatans – “My Foolish Pride”
Video: The Charlatans – “Love Is Ending”
Video: The Charlatans – “Mis-Takes”
Video: The Charlatans – “The Misbegotten”
Video: The Charlatans – “Oh Vanity”
Video: The Charlatans – “You Cross My Path”
Video: The Charlatans – “You’re So Pretty, We’re So Pretty”
Video: The Charlatans – “NYC (There’s No Need To Stop)”
Video: The Charlatans – “Blackened Blue Eyes”
Video: The Charlatans – “Try Again Today”
Video: The Charlatans – “Up At The Lake”
Video: The Charlatans – “A Man Needs To Be Told”
Video: The Charlatans – “Love Is The Key”
Video: The Charlatans – “Impossible”
Video: The Charlatans – “How High”
Video: The Charlatans – “North Country Boy”
Video: The Charlatans – “One To Another”
Video: The Charlatans – “Just When You’re Thinkin’ Things Over”
Video: The Charlatans – “Just Lookin'”
Video: The Charlatans – “Crashin’ In”
Video: The Charlatans – “Jesus Hairdo”
Video: The Charlatans – “I Never Want an Easy Life If Me and He Were Ever to Get There”
Video: The Charlatans – “Cant Get Out Of Bed”
Video: The Charlatans – “Tremolo Song”
Video: The Charlatans – “Weirdo”
Video: The Charlatans – “Me. In Time”
Video: The Charlatans – “Over Rising”
Video: The Charlatans – “Then”
Video: The Charlatans – “Sproston Green”
Video: The Charlatans – “The Only One I Know”

Travis have let Rolling Stone host the advance stream of their new record Where You Stand, which comes out August 19. Fran Healy talks to Metro, The Daily Mail, The Daily Record, and The Arbroath Herald about the new album, which they bring to The Sound Academy on September 25.

Stream: Travis / Where You Stand

DIY has both an album stream and track-by-track walkthrough of Absolute Zero, the debut album from Dublin’s Little Green Cars. It came out in North America back in the Spring but is only getting a European release next week, if you were wondering why they’re only getting around to it now.

Stream: Little Green Cars / Absolute Zero

The Fly and The Belfast Telegraph interview members of The Vaccines, who are streaming one of the tracks from their just-released Melody Calling EP via NME. They open up for Mumford & Sons at the Molson Amphitheatre on August 26.

Stream: The Vaccines – “Do You Want A Man” (John Hill + Rich Costey Remix)

Premier Guitar sits down with Alex Kapranos and Nick McCarthy of Franz Ferdinand to talk about their new record Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action with particular interest in – wait for it – their guitars, while The Age settles for a broader-interest feature piece. The record is out August 27 and they play The Kool Haus October 24.

Stereogum has premiered the lead video for Summer Camp’s self-titled second album, due out September 9.

Video: Summer Camp – “Fresh”

Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys talks to Rolling Stone about the new single and video from their forthcoming AM, which comes out September 10. They’re at The Kool Haus on September 15.

Video: Arctic Monkeys – “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?”

DIY have premiered the first video from Motto, the forthcoming record from Sky Larkin and Oxford Student also has an interview with the band. The new album is out September 16.

Video: Sky Larkin – “Loom”

Even though you’ve already seen her play it live at an in-store, The AV Club has posted the “proper” version of Charli XCX’s cover of The Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way”, as she learned the song for her contribution to their Undercover series. She also lists her five favourites songs for The Week. Charli XCX plays The Hoxton on September 16.

Peter Hook recounts to The Guardian what he sees when he looks in the mirror, which includes a guy who’s going to play Movement and Power, Corruption & Lies at The Hoxton on September 18; he talks to This Is Nottingham about how the live performance will work. And if you want to see what he looks like when he’s trying to teach you to play “Ceremony”, head over to Slicing Up Eyeballs for the video lesson.

Spin is streaming another new track from Johnny Flynn’s forthcoming Country Mile, due out September 30.

Stream: Johnny Flynn – “After Eliot”

Billboard has a video session and interview with Kate Nash. She plays The Phoenix on November 5.

After threatening to leak it herself, M.I.A. has been given a November 5 release date for her eternally-delayed new record Matangi.

Over at Noisey, Emmy The Great explains how she came to write the soundtrack for the film Austenland.

Editors have released another video from their latest album The Weight Of Your Love; Artrocker also has a quick interview with the band.

Video: Editors – “Formaldehyde”

MTV Iggy interviews Camera Obscura.

Mat Osman of Suede tells The Quietus what he’s been listening to lately.

In conversation with The Daily Star Alex James is simultaneously optimistic and hazy about the future of Blur.

Pitchfork has what I believe is the first extensive post-m b v interview with Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine, including outtakes.

In conversation with The Japan Times, Johnny Marr dumps a whole load of cold, harsh reality on those holding out hope for a Smiths reunion.