My Bloody Valentine Releases New Album Online

Shoegaze titans My Bloody Valentine have, at long last, released the follow-up to their landmark 1991 album "Loveless."

On Saturday afternoon (Feb. 2), the group posted the following message to its Facebook page: "We are preparing to go live with the new album/website this evening. We will make an announcement as soon as its up." Three hours later, another message appeared: "The album is now live on Www.mybloodyvalentine.org."

Titled "mbv," the group's third album follows a decade-plus of inactivity after the release of "Loveless," which many have hailed as one of the essential albums of the 90s. The group, led by Kevin Shields, reunited in 2007 to perform a handful of high-profile gigs, including a slot at the 2008 Coachella fest, while teasing a new album that had been started in 1996.

Last November, Shields told NME that a new My Bloody Valentine album would be out by the end of 2012. While that deadline was missed, Shields revealed during a London performance last week that the album would be out "in two or three days."

Although the nine-song album has finally been released, the server of the group's official site crashed soon after the band posted the Facebook message. "#MBV" soon started trending worldwide on Twitter.

According to BrooklynVegan, the album is available as an instant download, as a CD and download, and as a vinyl/CD/download. The vinyl and CD versions of "mbv" will be shipped within three weeks of purchase.

My Bloody Valentine will perform Tuesday night at the Hatch in Osaka, Japan, and is slated to begin a run of U.K. dates beginning Mar. 8. As of now, no new U.S. dates have been announced.

Here is the track list to "mbv":

1. she found now
2. only tomorrow
3. who sees you
4. is this and yes
5. if i am
6. new you
7. in another way
8. nothing is
9. wonder 2