Q&A: Lush On Their Unusual Legacy & Exciting Reunion

Of all the shoegaze reunions that we’ve been blessed with over the past few years, perhaps none is more satisfying than the return of Lush. Unlike many of their ’90s peers, most of whom either fizzled out due to lack of interest or were forced to close up shop for financial reasons, Lush ended their run on something of a creative high note. Between 1989 and 1996 the band released four increasingly pop-friendly albums, the last of which — 1996’s Lovelife — neatly bridged the gap between hazy shoegaze and the prevailing Britpop of the mid ’90s. At a time when Lush were poised to achieve even greater mainstream success, drummer Chris Acland tragically took his own life. Exhausted and heartbroken, the band simply stopped. So, for all of us who came of age with their records (and may or may not still have old VHS copies of 120 Minutes that are permanently warped from watching the “Sweetness And Light” video over and over), the news that Lush will reform after a 20-year hiatus is truly glorious. Having announced a run of U.S. shows leading up to a performance at Coachella later this month, the band is also releasing a new EP, Blind Spot — four tracks of blissed-out dreampop that picks up seamlessly where they left off nearly two decades ago. We talked to Lush frontwomen Emma Anderson and Miki Berenyi about the band’s great early days as well as their genuinely exciting comeback.