Pitchfork

It's a bird! No, it's a plane! IT'S A FLYING PIG! And only when pigs fly does Brian Eno reunite with Roxy Music. The much-rumored return of the legendary producer/artist/professor/anti-war activist/thinker to the band that gave him his first taste of fame was confirmed recently by Eno, in an interview with Richard Williams of the British paper the Guardian.

Roxy Music members Bryan Ferry, Andy Mackay, Phil Manzanera, and Paul Thompson got together early last year, touring the festival circuit before settling down to record the follow-up to 1982's Avalon, which is slated for release this autumn. Eno, who last appeared on 1973's For Your Pleasure, wrote two songs for the forthcoming album, and worked a bit of keyboard magic on other tracks. "The band hadn't changed one bit in terms of its internal dynamics," he told the Guardian. "Just the same chemistry. It made me wonder if people can ever change the chemistry between them. After all that time, the relationships seemed exactly the same."

As is to be expected, Eno will not take the stage with Roxy Music. "They didn't ask me, I think because they know I wouldn't," he said. "I don't fancy it. I basically don't like playing live and I'm also worried about people saying, 'Oh, right, he's going back to the old band, then.' It was a big decision for me to do those two days in the studio with them. Not that I don't like them. I like them all. They're nice people. But because I thought, 'Oh, fuck, I'm going to have to spend years talking about this, and it was only two days.'"

Eno recently appeared at England's Bath International Music Festival in collaboration with pianist Joanna McGregor and a choir. As previously reported, he also worked with Paul Simon on Surprise, which came out earlier this month.

According to Brian Ferry's official website, a Roxy Music remix album is in the works, and the band will play several European shows this July.

Country life:

07-05 Dublin, Ireland - Vicar Street
07-06 Cork, Ireland - The Marquee
07-08 Werchter, Belgium - Werchter Festival
07-09 Weert, Holland - Bospop Festival
07-12 Athens, Greece - Karaiskaki Stadium
07-13 Thessaloniki, Greece - Gis Amphitheatre
07-14 Ohrid, Macedonia - Ohrid Amphitheatre
07-16 Belgrade, Serbia - Belgrade Arena
07-18 Padova, Italy - Villi Contarini
07-19 Rome, Italy - Cavea
07-21 St. Polten, Austria - Lovely Days Festival
07-22 London, England - Rock the Dock

Oh, and if anyone can crack fan site EnoWeb's The Da Roxy Code, please let us know.