Blondie Announce 'High Noon,' Clem Burke's Final Recording

Blondie will release their first album of new music in nine years, High Noon, on Feb. 26 — and it will stand as the final recording of co-founding drummer Clem Burke, who died in April 2025 at age 70.

The band announced the album alongside its first single, "Spectral Eyes," which is out now. The track was written by Johnny Marr, who also plays guitar on it. The Hall of Fame drummer Burke anchored Blondie's hit records and their kinetic live shows across five decades.

What did Debbie Harry say about the album?

"This album is classic Blondie — an amalgamation of all our different influences and eras into something new," frontwoman Debbie Harry said in a statement. "This music feels grounded in the present, shaped by who we are and how we're living now."

The band describes High Noon as "a broad mix of sounds, ideas and collaborators" in which "rock and roll and punk sit alongside dance music and Latin rhythms." In plain terms: the record pulls together every phase of the group's career — from its 1970s CBGB origins to its later dance-pop chart runs.

Who appears on the record?

The guest list spans several generations of rock history:

• Johnny Marr — former Smiths guitarist, writer and guitarist on lead single "Spectral Eyes"
• Glen Matlock — original Sex Pistols bassist, writer of "Sleepwalking"
• Zach Condon of Beirut
• Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius

Blondie began sessions for the album in 2022 and recorded in New York City with producer John Congleton, who previously worked with the band on 2017's Pollinator — their most recent studio album before this nine-year gap. David Wrench later joined the project for additional production and mixing.

What's on the 13-track list?

High Noon spans 13 tracks. Several carry direct lineage to the band's founders:

• "Heartbreak Kid," written by Blondie guitarist Chris Stein
• "Man Who Had No Face," co-written by Stein and Harry
• "Sleepwalking," penned by Matlock
• "Little Metal Drummer," a revisiting of a song originally recorded by co-founding keyboardist Jimmy Destri for his 1981 solo debut, Heart On A Wall — both Harry and Burke performed on that original recording, giving the new version a direct link to the band's earliest era

The full track list: "Spectral Eyes," "Heartbreak Kid," "Come Back Home," "Tambo Tambo," "Man Who Had No Face," "The End," "Little Metal Drummer," "Sleepwalking," "Whistle Into The Wind," "Antifreeze," "East of Eden," "Bad Underwear" and "Ah, Sunflower, Weary of Time."

How does the band frame its return?

Guitarist Chris Stein addressed the long gap directly. "It's been a long, strange ride, and somehow here we are with another Blondie album," Stein said. He added: "I'm not sure what the fuck I'm supposed to say at this point, except that we're incredibly grateful for all your support over the years."

High Noon doubles as a memorial: it captures Burke's final work behind the drum kit, recorded in the sessions that began three years before his death, and its Feb. 26 release will give listeners the last new performances from a founding member of one of America's defining new wave bands.