Bauhaus Conjure a Surrealist Post-Punk Dreamscape on First New Song in 14 Years

British post-punk pioneers Bauhaus return with their first new song in over a decade, “Drink the New Wine.”

Recorded during lockdown, Bauhaus used the Surrealists’ “exquisite corpse” method to create the song, with each member coming up with a section without seeing what the other’s had done. The band set up some additional rules: Each member was given only one minute to fill, and only eight tracks to lay down whatever instrumentals and vocals they wanted; the band also allotted themselves a shared 60 seconds to create a composite at the end. 

In a statement, Bauhaus noted that they’ve used the “exquisite corpse” technique in the past, and that the title of their new song, “Drink the New Wine,” takes its title from a phrase that came out of the first time Surrealist artists André Breton, Marcel Duchamp, Jacques Prévert, and Yves Tanguy combined for a “Cadavre exquis“: “[It] included words which when strung together make up the sentence, ‘Le cadaver exquisite boar le vin nouveau’ (‘The exquisite corpse will drink the new wine’),” the band said. 

“Drink the New Wine” marks Bauhaus’ first bit of new music since the release of their 2008 album, Go Away White. While the group disbanded before they could tour in support of that LP, Bauhaus reunited for a handful of shows in 2019. The band is set to return to the road this May, starting with an appearance at the Cruel World Festival, followed by shows in Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, Arizona, and New York.