On their current 8424 tour, The Cult's Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy celebrate 40 years since they retired their Death Cult moniker and embraced an unknown future. “I don’t think of it as a retrospective, or an anniversary, though,” Astbury tells MOJO. “I don’t need a cake. ‘8424’ is just a convenient moniker. I like how it looks like it could be a year in the future, like a date out of Blade Runner or something.”
As far as Astbury is concerned, even at 62, the same fire burns within that produced the songs on transformative mid 80s breakthroughs Love and Electric. “I’ve never felt that sense of entitlement,” he insists. “I was always the most earnest person in the room. And I’m pushing for a future for this band where we can really, truly incubate and indulge in ideas, textures, sounds…”
Read more at MOJO.
The Cult are currently playing string of UK dates. Remaining shows are listed below.
October
29 - York, UK - Barbican
30 - Newcastle, UK - O2 City Hall
November
1 - Portsmouth, UK - Guildhall
2 - Wolverhampton, UK - Wolverhampton Civic Hall
4 - London, UK - Royal Albert Hall
The Cult formed in 1984 England, with the seminal post-punk band going on to sell millions of albums with numerous international and U.S. gold and platinum certifications. Ian Astbury (vocals) and Billy Duffy (guitar) have released 11 studio albums over The Cult’s career.
The band, dubbed “Shamanic goths”, found international renown with the 1985 album, Love, which featured the enduring rock anthem “She Sells Sanctuary,” as well as the oft-heard follow-up single ,“Rain.”
Electric arrived in 1989, with journalists saying the collection of songs (particularly “Love Removal Machine,” “Wild Flower” and “Lil’ Devil”) “swaggers, crunches and howls.”
Most recently, The Cult released Under the Midnight Sun. A review of the eight-song album succinctly said “rock’s unquenchable melodramatists have the fire in their eyes still.”
In late 2023, Astbury and Duffy reformed Death Cult for a series of live performances including a sole US date at The Theatre at The Ace Hotel and a limited run of UK dates including back-to-back sold out shows at the Brixton Electric.
(Photo - Jackie Middleton)
