With Creation unable to support the band and Shields' expensive production, My Bloody Valentine signed with Island records in 1992. At the end of the year, work commenced on a follow-up to Loveless.
The world is still waiting for that follow-up and it seems unlikely it will ever materialize. My Bloody Valentine has never released another album or EP.
There were some signs of activity for awhile; the group chipped in a song to a charity compilation. Shields took his studio advance and built a home studio. He is reported to have recorded two albums worth of material, but none has appeared. While Shields remained cloistered in his studio, recording music nobody would ever hear, Googe and O'Ciosoig apparantly grew tired of waiting, and left the band, leaving only Butcher and Shields. O'Ciosoig has since worked with Hope Sandoval (ex-Mazzy Star). Googe resorted to driving a taxi for a year before forming the band Snowpony in 1996. Also in 1996, My Bloody Valentine released a song for a Wire tribute album, but no more material appeared. By this point, there was no shoegaze movement anymore; all of the original shoegaze bands had broken up or changed their sound radically. It's tempting to speculate if the scene would have turned out differently if My Bloody Valentine had managed to remain active.
In 1996 Experimental Audio Research, a project of ex-Spacemen 3 singer/guitarist Sonic Boom, released an album, Beyond the Pale, which features Shields on a pair of tracks. However, it was recorded in 1992. He has since done some production and guitar work for Primal Scream; he remains a fairly enigmatic, obsessive artist. His enduring legacy remains the pair of albums he recorded and engineered with My Bloody Valentine.
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Article comments
1 - Bryan McKay
Actually, Kevin Shields has been a bit more active than you indicate in your piece (which was excellent, btw). His work with Primal Scream was not just limited to "some production and guitar work." He actually toured with the band for quite a while, playing guitar in their live shows (I'm not sure if he still does, however, but he was as of 2003-ish, I believe). In addition to this, he recorded a few original songs for Sofia Coppola's film Lost in Translation. Although he certainly has remained rather enigmatic, he still is relatively active as a musician, despite having kept us waiting for years for a new album.
2 - Eric Olsen
excellent, love MBV!
Thanks for mentioning Lost in Translation, Bryan! Super soundtrack with both MBV and Kevin
3 - uao
Thanks for the info on Shields' further adventures; his name doesn't come up often anymore, and I was unsure of the extent of his Primal Scream involvement. Glad to know he's still fairly active.
4 - KB
I heard that Colm broke his arm early in the Loveless sessions, preventing him from playing on a majority of the tracks. I don't know if it's true, but when one listens a drum machine is certainly heard. He did the sampling work however. I love My Bloody Valentine, their music has given me new life and energy. anyone who's looking to sell old EPs or talk anything MBV, drop an email.