Anathema sign with Mascot Label Group and plan 2020 album

Anathema with Mascot Label Group CEO Ed van Zijl (Image credit: Will Ireland)

Anathema (opens in new tab) have signed a new record deal with Mascot Label Group ahead of their headline set at Space Rocks in London next month (opens in new tab).

The band inked the contract at London's Science Museum in the company of MLG's CEO Ed van Zijl in front of the European Space Agency's structural thermal model of the BepiColombo – which is currently on a seven-year journey to Mercury.

The band are now planning on releasing their 12th studio album in 2020.

Anathema's Danny Cavanagh says: “This is the beginning of a new adventure for us and we are looking forward to a wonderful partnership with Mascot in the coming years. 

“I would particularly like to pay tribute to Kscope for their unwavering support and great work over more than a decade. They’ve been a big part of our lives and we say thank you very much to all the staff there. 

“Of course we owe a debt of gratitude to Andy Farrow, Jasper at Northern Music Company for excellence in management and guidance. Last but not least a huge thanks to the fans, without whom, none of this is possible.”

Vincent Cavanagh has also thanked Kscope for their support over the last nine years and adds: “They always gave us complete creative freedom and always supported everything we wanted to do as a band. They're great people and a lot of fun to work with. Looking forward to the next adventures with the guys at Mascot."

Anathema's manager Andy Farrow of Northern Music Company said: “I found that Ed van Zijl and his team at Mascot had a very refreshing outlook to releasing albums and building bands. I had previously met the people in the UK, Dutch and NYC offices when they were pitching for another of my acts and remember being very impressed by them and I’m delighted to be working with them on Anathema’s next release in 2020.”

Van Zijl calls Anathema "one of the great innovative British rock bands" and adds: "Over the years they have been able to progress musically, artistically and naturally into the future as only the strong ones can. I am very excited to have the band now join the MLG family and taking the next step together with us.”

Along with their set at Space Rocks on September 21, Anathema have several other live shows planned this year (opens in new tab) and they'll also headline Prognosis 2020 (opens in new tab).

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers and magazines as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. After initially joining our news desk in the summer of 2014, he moved to the e-commerce team full-time in 2020. He maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott grew up listening to rock and prog, cutting his teeth on bands such as Marillion and Magnum before his focus shifted to alternative and post-punk in the late 80s. His favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Drab Majesty, but he also still has a deep love of Rush.