The Sanctuary Gazette

Canadian new wave band Spoons announces Nightlife, its eighth studio album, due on November 6, 2026 on CD, as a download and on 180-gram red vinyl. It is the band's first fully independent release: every creative decision was made by the band itself. The first single is called “Take The World”.

Jeff Carter produces the record. Gord Deppe handles vocals and guitar, Sandy Horne bass and vocals. Keyboards are played by Scott MacDonald, Jeff Carter and Matthew Deppe, and the two live drummers, Chris McNeil and Tony Ferraro, play on the album. There are ten tracks, including “Take the World”, “Doomed” and “Better Late Than Never Did It”.

Spoons formed in 1980 in Burlington, Ontario. Its first album, Stick Figure Neighbourhood, was recorded in 1981 with engineer Daniel Lanois. Arias & Symphonies (1982) was recorded at George Martin's AIR Studios in London. In 2021, the band released Echoes, an album of its songs covered by other artists.

Apoptygma Berzerk, the Norwegian EBM and futurepop band led by Stephan Groth, will release its album Exit Popularity Contest on digital and streaming platforms on October 27, 2026, a first. Released in 2016 only on CD, cassette and double vinyl by Rough Trade and The End Records, the record is sold out at the band and at most of its distributors. The rights have reverted to the band, which clears the way for this digital edition. Bandcamp supporters get early access.

In its announcement, the band says the physical release has served its purpose and thanks those who bought the record in that format.

The album gathers reworked versions of tracks from three instrumental EPs released between 2014 and 2016: Stop Feeding The Beast (2014), Videodrome (2015) and Xenogenesis (2016). It has ten tracks, including “The Genesis 6 Experiment”, “Stille Når Gruppe” and “Rhein Klang”.

Apoptygma Berzerk formed in 1989 in Sarpsborg, Norway, around Stephan Groth and Jon Erik Martinsen.

Tramhaus, a post-punk band born in Rotterdam during the pandemic restrictions, releases Blister, its second album, two years after The First Exit. The quintet is made up of Lukas Jansen (vocals), Nadya van Osnabrugge and Micha Zaat (guitars), Julia Vroegh (bass) and Jim Luijten (drums), musicians already active in the local underground.

The sound rests on repetitive, krautrock-inspired patterns played at punk speed. The two guitars work by contrast: one holds the tension, the other alternates between feedback and sharp lines. Jansen's vocals swing between frantic recitation and screams. The lyrics deal with personal identity, alienation, paranoia and the absurdity of human relationships.

Blister has eleven tracks and was preceded by the single “Plovdiv”. According to OndaRock, “The Answer?” and “Rat Race” are the most incisive, while “Solace” brings the melody. The Italian magazine sees the band as a representative of the new Dutch post-punk scene.

Hammer Films has acquired all the literary works of Susan Hill, the British author known for The Woman in Black. The deal was led by John Gore Studios, owner of Hammer since 2023. It covers the whole catalogue, including The Man in the Picture, Dolly, The Small Hand, The Mist in the Mirror and Printer's Devil Court, ghost stories that critics have long compared to those of M.R. James.

The plan is to adapt these texts for film, television and theatre, wherever the rights allow. Susan Hill will remain an executive producer and will take part in the development strategy. John Gore, founder of John Gore Studios, promises to approach her work with “care, craftsmanship and respect for character, suspense and atmosphere”. The author sees it as a new life for her stories and recalls Hammer's place in the history of British gothic.

Hammer had already produced a television adaptation of The Woman in Black in 1989, before the 2012 film starring Daniel Radcliffe. No director, screenwriter or release date is attached to the upcoming adaptations.