The first tour pictures are available from "AurA TouA" - more to follow!

Thanks to James Wright who transcribed a recent interview with Wayne by Classic Rock - click here to read the text in full.

Finally, some of you have reported random issues with the MWIS shop - I've identified a javascript issue for certain browsers and have made a fix. Should work for you all now! (tested on IE5 and NS4 + 6 on PC)

Those of you who have already seen the band live on the current tour will know that there is new merchandise available to buy. This will continue for the rest of the tour, but for those of you who can't make the shows and want to get your hands on the new merchandise, you can do so by visiting our merchandise agents website.

In the meantime, the Bochum show on the 3rd Feb. is now sold out!

"Aura opens with "Evangeline", the unstoppable single whose arpeggios are reminiscent of the grand hour of "Beyond The Pale" and "Deliverance"...."Mesmerized" is a haunting lament of which the band has the secret. "Lay Your Hand On Me" alternates between the calm and the storm..."In Denial" concludes the album with suffering but in beauty....With Aura, The Mission has returned to its trademark sound and in the process reawakened the sensations thought to be buried forever."

Q Magazine - a leading UK music magazine have reviewed AurA, giving it a justified 4 out of 5 stars. Here's what they had to say:
"...The only way forward (for the band) was either to give up or achieve a near-impossible career rejuvenation by writing The Mission's most satisfying album to date. Incredibly, Hussey has achieved the latter with an album that has the potential to reach a new generation of black-clad admirers. Aura oozes sleazy theatricality and citrus-like humour as the singer documents flamboyant sexual encounters in songs such as the anthemic (Slave to) Lust and Evangeline. The album stretches from Catalonian bars to the neon streets of Tokyo, freely indulging in the forbidden fruit of billowing, Banshee-esque guitars and guilt free pop choruses."

Additional dates for the AurA TourA are confirmed as Mannheim on 19th February and Bochum Zeche on the 20th.

We hope to also make purchasing AurA (including the limited edition vinyl) and related singles through the web even easier shortly - full details to follow.

Mark's replacement, at least for the forthcoming tour, will be Rob Holliday who deputised for Mark on the recent tour of Germany, Switzerland & Austria with HIM. The band would like to take this opportunity to wish Mark all the best for the future, and to say Thankyou for his valuable contribution to the album 'AurA', and all the band activities over the last 9 years or so.

In other news,the band have added an additional date to the 2002 AurA tour; 28th Feb at the Bristol Fleece & Firkin. Wayne will also be guest DJ in Sao Paulo during the Christmas period - more info to follow.

As you will have already noticed, the new look MWIS is now (finally) live - there are a few gaps here and there but all important info is available. We've also brought back the messageboard - new and improved!

FEBRUARY
Fri 1st Glauchau Alte Spinnerei (near Chemnitz)
Sat 2nd Herford Kick
Sun 3rd Bochum Zeche
Tue 5th Berlin Columbiafritz
Wed 6th Bamberg Live Club (near Nuremberg)
Fri 8th Karlsruhe Substage
Sat 9th Munich Backstage
Sun 10th Graz Orpheum
Mon 11th Vienna Planet Music
Tue 12th Zagreb
Wed 13th Ljubjlana 500
Fri 15th Rome Blackout
Sat 16th Florence Prato
Sun 17th Milan Transilvania
Mon 18th Zurich Abart Music Club
Thu 21st Amsterdam Paradiso
Fri 22nd Brussels VK
Sun 24th Edinburgh Liquid Room
Mon 25th Leeds Cockpit
Tue 26th Nottingham Rock City
Wed 27th Manchester University

MARCH
Fri 1st London Astoria 2,000

JAN 2002
Sat 26th Strasbourge La Laiterie
Sun 27th Paris La Locomotive
Mon 28th Frankfurt Batschkapp
Tue 29th Cologne Live Music Hall
Thu 31st Hamburg Markthalle

FEB 2002
Fri 1st Glauchau 51 Alte Spinnerei (near Chemnitz)
Sat 2nd Herford 51 Kick
Sun 3rd Bochum Zeche
Tue 5th Berlin Columbiafritz
Wed 6th Bamberg 51 Live Club (near Nuremberg)
Fri 8th Karlsruhe Substage
Sat 9th Munich 51 Backstage
Sun 10th Zurich Abart (tbc)

More dates to follow.

This week's alternative/college radio chart positions in Germany...

"EVANGELINE" slips from No. 3 to No. 4 in the German national Alternative Chart (DAC) behind New Order, The Cure and Depeche Mode - after 5 weeks on chart...but goes up from No. 4 to.... No. 1 in the German national College Radio chart (DAC) - after 2 weeks on chart!!!

"AurA" enters at No. 2 in the German national alternative album chart (DAC) - Highest New Entry!

"Evangeline" and "AurA" will also be available through ASP Records in South Africa - Barney Simon on 5FM will also be interviewing Wayne 29th November live on air!

Finally, we will shortly be releasing a new version of this website - the current version has served faithfully for the last two years, but the time has come to update once more. During the transition there may be a small period of down time - once we have a confirmed date of the change we'll let you know more info.

As you are probably aware, "AurA" has now been released in only certain parts of Europe with the remainder to follow in the next few weeks. Again, our apologies to you in the UK, but you"re gonna have to wait a little longer than the rest of Europe. And it"s not because we don"t like you. It's because there have been a few technical delays, too mundane and boring to go into here. Anyway, think about the people in the rest of the world who are waiting, and are going to have to wait even longer than you, some, like the USA, until next year even.

Anyway, I can confirm that "Evangeline" will be released in the UK on the 19th November on Playground Recordings, with "Aura" to follow a week later on the 26th, again on Playground. "Evangeline" has 3 other tracks, these being "Anyone But You", "Melt", & "Swoon (reprise)".  The final track listing for the album is as follows: 1. Evangeline 2. Shine Like The Stars 3. (Slave to) Lust 4. Mesmerised 5. Lay Your Hands On Me 6. Dragonfly 7. Happy 8. To Die By Your Hand 9. Trophy/It Never Rains..... 10. The Light That Pours From You 11. Burlesque 12. Cocoon 13. In Denial.

The album was produced by myself with 6 songs being mixed by Dave Allen and 7 by Steve Power, two old friends of mine. In the UK (as in France & Germany) there will also be limited editions of the album that come with a bonus CD-Rom including the 'Evangeline' video' and a live version of 'Deliverance' filmed at Oberhausen but only the UK version will contain an exclusive additional track, an exclusive interview piece with yours truly interspersed with some recording footage of us hard at work recording "AurA", a direct link to this website to access an exclusive additional track only available here, some photos and some Mission related screensavers. Additionally the CD version of AurA will be available in a very limited quantity of CD slip cases. We are also releasing a strictly limited gatefold two disc vinyl version of "AurA".

We think the album is rather good and it represents a pretty good year for yours truly. I think you'll like it.

We do have touring plans for the new year and we hope to be able to confirm some of these plans in the next few days and we"ll let you know here on the website as soon as we know.

The tour in Germany, Austria, & Switzerland with HIM was a lot of fun. I think it"s fair to say that a good time was had by all. It"s been a long time since we played a support tour and it was great to play the bigger venues again. I think it"s fair to say that we did convert some new believers to the faith.

After a couple of weeks of promotion around Europe I"m now back in the studio again in California recording "b" sides and extra tracks for future singles. Some new songs, some cover versions, and some new versions of older songs.

OK, that's it from me for the time being.......see you soon.........
Love, Wayne.

Here are some choice quotes from Greece's Metal Hammer magazine during their interview

From the Review:
"This is the album of the year to me. It spins you from passion to tenderness and makes you forget to breathe. It would be unfair to categorize it as it is music for people, made by people that love music".

From the Interview:
"THE RETURN OF THE GOTH GIANT WITH THE TENDER HEART.
...I think his (Wayne's) history is enough to make clear to anyone his huge musical fingerprint..."

The band have sent in some pictures during the HIM tour - click here to check them out!

Now, after almost six years of silence, we can officially confirm that the long wait in the UK is over!!!On November 12, The Mission will release a brand new 4 track single through Playground Recordings entitled "Evangeline " which we think is a bit special.

As previously mentioned in an earlier news update, confirmed track listings are:- "Evangeline", "Anyone But You", "Melt" and "Swoon (reprise)"  - Available formats:- limited edition CD single (PGNDCD 001) and limited edition 7" gatefold coloured vinyl pack (PGND 001) - please note that the vinyl format of "Evangeline" will ONLY be available in the UK.

All four tracks were produced by our Glorious Leader, Mr Huss, and mixed by Dave Allen who has produced a number of Cure albums (including Wish) and the first Sisters of Mercy (!) album among others in an illustrious career.

As many of you are aware, the band have been busy thundering across Germany, Austria and Switzerland playing in vast arenas to packed houses as Special Guests on the recent Him tour and having a lot of fun. Several people who have followed the band everywhere since the early days reckoned the second night in Zurich was arguably the best live show the band had ever played so it must have been quite a night!

In addition, Wayne and Craig completed over fifty important interviews during the tour and the media reaction to the band (and the new recordings which they have heard) has been extraordinarily positive. We have already included some quotes from key German and French magazines on the activity page and more will follow.

While all this mayhem has been going on, the UK label has been busy in their wake making arrangements for the band to get Mish records put out in as many countries as possible (see the activity page) which is what we all want surely. We can officially confirm that the band's records will be released internationally by the following record labels:-

We are delighted to welcome them all into the Mish family!

In the old days and before the arrival of the Internet and MWIS, Mission records were usually released simultaneously so everyone was able to hear the music at the same time. However, on this occasion, SPV RECORDS have been permitted to release the "Evangeline" single earlier than other countries to satisfy the interest and demand that has followed on from the recent successful three week stint of live shows in the GAS countries and one or two other companies like XIII BIS have asked to follow suit.

This week, "Evangeline" is being sent out to the UK radio stations, press publications and rock clubs and the new video is being despatched to the various TV stations so keep your ears and eyes peeled and let us know if you hear or see "Evangeline" anywhere. Wayne and Craig are going to be interviewed by a number of UK media people next Thursday in London. Again, the UK media reaction to the new recordings has been excellent. Further details on all these interviews will be available here in the next few days once they have been confirmed.

As far as the new album "AurA" is concerned, again SPV and XIII BIS are being permitted to release it a week or two earlier than here for the same reason as before.

For our UK followers, however, we are intending to include something extra special with "AurA" which will be unique and exclusive only to the UK release and not available anywhere else in the world. Expect a full announcement about further details on "AurA" to be made here in the next few days as soon as they are confirmed.

Keep the faith!

SONIC SEDUCER:
And then, all of a sudden, THE MISSION came up with "AurA", an album that can not only compete against its best predecessors but also leaves behind everything the band did in the last ten years. Now, how many bands are capable of doing this after more than fifteen years in this business?
Und ganz nebenbei haben THE MISSION mit "AurA" ein Album aus dem Ärmel gezaubert, das mit seinen besten Vorgängern konkurrieren kann, und klar alle Werke der Band aus den letzten 10 Jahren hinter sich läßt. Wie viele Gruppen können das wohl von sich behaupten, nach mehr als fünfzehn Jahren im Geschäft?
 

ORKUS:
I can't deny to be amazed by the band's development! The boys made clear that everyone can again count on THE MISSION!
Ich kann nicht verleugnen, daß ich ob dieser Entwicklung begeistert bin! Mit The Mission dürfte wieder zu rechnen sein!

Just a reminder that Mission Merchandise is available from Big-Stone!

"There are some groups who seem to resist time, changing fashions, musical styles...Whether you are an avid fan of the group or a novice in this scene, there's no doubt that this excellent "AurA" will transfix you." (Elegy Magazine)

"The dignified heir of "God' Own Medicine" and "Carved In Sand", "AurA" is the album the fans have been waiting for for 10 years...God Bless The Mission!" (D-Side Magazine)

"First and foremost, we can enjoy the comeback of the year: THE MISSION are not only back, but have come up with a new album - a piece of art of the kind that's very rarely made by bands these days" (Zillo Magazine)

"There are some groups who seem to resist time, changing fashions, musical styles...Whether you are an avid fan of the group or a novice in this scene, there's no doubt that this excellent "AurA" will transfix you." (Elegy Magazine) "The dignified heir of "God' Own Medicine" and "Carved In Sand", "AurA" is the album the fans have been waiting for for 10 years...God Bless The Mission!" (D-Side Magazine) "First and foremost, we can enjoy the comeback of the year: THE MISSION are not only back, but have come up with a new album - a piece of art of the kind that's very rarely made by bands these days" (Zillo Magazine)