Pitchfork

Nooooooo! Once again, the call of the "indefinite hiatus" has claimed one of my favorite bands. Brighton, England's Electrelane announced today on their website that following a string of dates leading up to a December 1 show in their hometown, they will lay down their instruments.

"We have decided that the upcoming gigs will be our last for the foreseeable future," the band wrote. "After ten years of much fun and hard work, we have realised that we all need a break and time to do other things. This was a tough decision for us to make, but ultimately a positive one.

"A big thank you to everyone who has come to our shows, put on our shows, and bought our records over the years. It means a lot to us. We're really grateful to have had the opportunity to play gigs all over the world and to meet so many lovely people. This last year has been especially enjoyable and we feel happy about moving on with all these good memories to look back on. At the moment we haven't made any band plans for the future but we're going to have a break and see what happens.

"Love, Electrelane"

Since forming in 1998, the four-piece released four albums and one odds-and-ends compilation of churning, Kraut-influenced art rock. (They also do the best cover of Bruce Springsteen's "I'm on Fire" ever.) This year's fantastic No Shouts, No Calls (on Too Pure) was perhaps the best distillation of Electrelane's sound, balancing just the right amount of pop with experimental meanderings.

"In Berlin", the next single from that album, will be released on November 26. That same day, the Too Pure Singles Club will release the "Red Dream" / "A Mouthful of Pebbles" single by Vera November, aka Electrelane vocalist/keyboardist Verity Susman.

Full disclosure: guitarist Mia Clarke is also a music journalist who has written for Pitchfork in the past. And though an Electrelane "hiatus" may mean time for more writing from Clarke, we will miss the band greatly.

Electrelane dates:

11-09 Athens, Greece - Gagarin205
11-10 Thessaloniki, Greece - Xylourgeio-Mylos
11-16 Vevey, Switzerland - Rocking Chair
11-17 Zurich, Switzerland - Rote Fabrik
11-19 Strasbourg, France - La Laiterie
11-20 Lyon, France - Transbordeur
11-21 Toulouse, France - Le Cleo
11-23 Angouleme, France - La Nef
11-24 Paris, France - Trabendo
11-27 Glasgow, Scotland - King Tut's
11-28 Manchester, England - Academy 3
11-29 London, England - Koko
12-01 Brighton, England - Pavilion Theatre