Four decades into a career built on noise, contradiction and reinvention, Chris Connelly has released “House of 70’s,” the first single from Doo Wop In The Dark: A Portrait of Lou Reed, out in October through Shipwrecked Industries, distributed by Virtual Label

Title: Doo Wop In The Dark: A Portrait of Lou Reed
Artist: Chris Connelly
Release Date: 2026-10-16
Genres: Art Rock, Post-punk
Label: Shipwrecked Industries
Description: Chris Connelly's Lou Reed tribute Doo Wop In The Dark arrives October 16th on Shipwrecked Industries, led by single "House of 70's."

The single was produced by Connelly together with Alan Berliant, his bandmate in Sons of the Silent Age. Its accompanying video, described as adrenaline-fuelled, was made by Someoddpilot Studios and directed by Chris Eichenseer, who founded the Chicago creative studio Some Odd Pilot. The video features Kira Leadholm, performing as Madame Reaper, and Jay Drenkula.

Doo Wop In The Dark follows Connelly’s 2022 album Eulogy to Christa: A Tribute to the Music & Mystique of Nico, a 20-track work. The new record combines compositions written by Lou Reed himself, drawn from across his career starting with the Velvet Underground, alongside songs written by Connelly that trace Reed’s life from adolescence through his death in 2013. Connelly has described “House of 70’s” as an attempt to condense Reed’s New York of the early to mid-1970s into a single rock song, evoking the fading hippie era, the city’s nightlife figures, and Reed’s own sharp, sarcastic songwriting style; the track carries a tension and immediacy that make it one of the more striking pieces he has put his name to in years.

Berliant and Connelly produced most of the album, though four tracks, “Babyface,” “Bye Bye Johnny Viola,” “Doin’ The Things That We Want To,” and “One Too Many Mysteries,” were produced separately by Chris Bruce, known for session work with Meshell Ndegeocello, Seal, Aaron Neville, Bob Dylan, The Waterboys and Sheryl Crow. Mixing took place in Chicago and New York between 2023 and 2026, handled by Berliant and Bruce; mastering was done by James Scott at Populist Recording & Mastering. The album is dedicated to Connelly’s friend Zak Boerger (1973 to 2025) and, separately, to the memory of Lewis Allan Reed.

Connelly was born on 11 November 1964 in Bruntsfield, near Edinburgh, Scotland, and is known for his work in industrial music during the late 1980s and early 1990s, particularly through Revolting Cocks and Ministry. He has been active in music for more than four decades, beginning with Fini Tribe in Edinburgh (read our interview with Chris Connelly on Fini Tribe).

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