It’s the end of another year, but much to look forward to next year for Massive Attack fans. Heligoland, the first studio album from Massive Attack will be available in early February, and a world tour will be commencing with stops in North/South America along with Australia and the Middle East. Apart from a lone date in Mexico in February, the rest of the international tour has yet to be announced. Before this, Massive Attack will perform a series of three concerts in the U.K, in benefit of the HOPING Foundation, who they have supported in the past before. Here’s a further roundup of the news over Christmas:

Within the last week, a Seattle based alternative radio station, known as KEXP, has been playing new tracks from Heligoland. They have already played tracks from the album such as Flat Of The Blade, Babel and Saturday Come Slow. From what we know, these were the first time these tracks have been publicly played, and has had many fans talking about them. You can try and email the station here and ask for a request of one of the Heligoland tracks.

The Japanese edition of Heligoland will include, as a a bonus track, a remix of a new previously unheard song called “Fatalism”. The remix is by Ryuichi Sakamoto & Yukihiro Takahashi of the pioneering Japanese electropop band, Yellow Magic Orchestra. You might be able to remember that Yellow Magic Orchestra were performers at Massive Attack’s Meltdown back in 2008. There is no word yet if the unremixed version of “Fatalism” will be released. The Japanese Edition of Heligoland can be bought from HMV Japan.

Finally, the photo below is one of the first to be released of a recent photo shoot the band did with noted photographers Wareen Du Preez and Nick Thornton-Jones, who previously photographed Massive Attack for 100th Window. More form this photo shoot will be appearing in the run up to Heligoland’s release.