'EXTENDED PLAY' EP PRESS & REVIEWS

ITUNES | AMAZON EXCLUSIVE

Released April 30, 2013 on iTunes | May 7, 2013 on Amazon

PRESS RELEASE:

LOS ANGELES, April 30, 2013 PRNewswire Fleetwood Mac, currently on a hugely successful 48 city concert tour of North America, have confirmed that they are releasing an EP of new material today titled "Extended Play" exclusively for purchase on iTunes at http://smarturl.it/FleetwoodMacEP. "Extended Play" includes three new songs "Sad Angel," "It Takes Time" and "Miss Fantasy" written by Lindsey Buckingham and produced by Lindsey Buckingham and Mitchell Froom.  A fourth cut, "Without You" was written by Stevie Nicks and co-produced by Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.  "Without You" was a lost song from the Buckingham/Nicks days which had been missing and happily rediscovered when someone posted an early demo of it on YouTube.  The first single, "Sad Angel" is also being released to radio today.  "Extended Play" is the first recording of new Mac music since the release of "Say You Will" over a decade ago.  

"We all felt that it would be great to go into the studio and record new material before embarking on this tour and the result has been remarkable – our best group of songs in a long time.  It's a work in progress but we're so enthused by what we've done that we thought we'd share some of it with our fans in the form of an EP now... We're performing two cuts, 'Sad Angel' and 'Without You' in the show and the response has been terrific," commented Buckingham. 

Fleetwood Mac are multi-Grammy winning Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees. Their classic Rumours album released in 1977 is one of the most successful albums in recorded history with sales exceeding 40 million.  It planted itself at the top of the pop charts for over 31 weeks and had four top ten singles.  A special edition of Rumours celebrating its release 35 years ago was recently released on Warner Bros. Records.

For further information and tour schedule:   fleetwoodmac.com

Press Contact:
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Fleetwood Mac just released an EP of new songs. “It’s a work in progress but we’re so enthused by what we've done that we thought we’d share some of it with our fans” - Lindsey Buckingham  (Photo: Neal Preston)

1. Sad Angel
2. Without You
3. It Takes Time
4. Miss Fantasy

Available on iTunes
Available at AmazonMP3

Released Tuesday, April 30th this four song EP titled "Extended Play" is the first recording of new Fleetwood material since the band released "Say You Will" in 2003.  The set contains 3 new tunes plus "Without You", a lost song unearthed from the early Buckingham/Nicks era. 

Album Review: Fleetwood Mac – Extended Play EP
BY JON HADUSEK
Consequence of Sound
3/5 Stars

Fleetwood Mac are restless. After dozens of songs, albums, tours, and RIAA certifications, you’d think they would’ve reached a point of satisfied complacency, like when a star athlete hits the twilight of his or her career and admits, “I’ve done it all it’s time to retire.” Maybe Fleetwood Mac did, in fact, reach such a point after 2003’s Say You Will. The band announced an indefinite hiatus — its members diverting their concentration to their personal lives and solo endeavors. The Mac’s future was in question…

But if Michael Jordan wearing a Washington Wizards jersey taught us anything, it’s that you can’t keep The Best at bay while they still have the ability to play … and make lots of money. So in 2009, Fleetwood Mac reunited for a tour (which — just like Jordan on the Wizards — put asses in seats and made tons o’ cash). During the tour, Lindsey Buckingham dropped this nugget: “The time is right to go back to the studio.”

But for three years that promise went unfulfilled as Fleetwood Mac rode the nostalgia train all the way to the bank. Another world tour, TV appearances, and album reissues — no new music.

Until now.

Via a surprise press release last month, Fleetwood Mac announced Extended Play, a four-song EP of new material — their first since 2003. Expectations were high for these songs, considering Buckingham’s aforementioned statements and the subsequent lack of fresh studio material from the band.

By its own nature, Extended Play can’t meet those expectations. A quick-hitting EP simply cannot contain the songwriting force that is Buckingham/Nicks/McVie. Shit, Rumours could barely contain ‘em (and Tusk overdid it). Instead, we don’t get that team at all. Just Buckingham. Every song on Extended Play is sung and written by him (“Without You” is a re-recording of an old Buckingham/Nicks demo).

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though it makes the EP feel more like a Buckingham solo project than a true Fleetwood Mac release. The songs play it safe, adhering to the midtempo rhythms that best suit his voice. Lead track “Sad Angel” opens with the familiar jangles of “Go Your Own Way” — a momentary callback before we finally hear this new, Christine McVie-less iteration of Fleetwood Mac. Buckingham’s fatalism is firmly in place: “My eyes saw the words / With a prayer and a curse / Your pain had to sleep/With a sword that it keeps.” They’re contemplative lyrics for an otherwise simple pop tune. Modern production techniques enhance Buckingham’s clean guitar tones and his vocal harmonies with Nicks. Even the compressed MP3s sound superb — magnifying every nuance, from the patter of Mick Fleetwood’s snare to the slight gravely tic in Stevie Nick’s voice (which proves that she is in fact 64, despite her age-defying looks).

The new version of “Without You” is a welcome rendition. It’s an acoustic duet between Buckingham and Nicks — the only real presence she has on Extended Play. Although it was likely written while they were madly in love with one another, the song emphatically contradicts that idea: “I’m so lonely babe/I can’t live without you.” The following track, “It Takes Time”, is a somewhat forgettable piano ballad, but Fleetwood Mac close strong with the hook-y power-pop of “Miss Fantasy”.

Extended Play is a short tease, but these tracks aren’t throwaways or an attempt at a quick cash-in. Lindsey Buckingham wouldn’t put his name on something like that. A known perfectionist, he co-produced the EP alongside Mitchell Froom, and the attention paid to detail shows. Sure, the songs don’t veer far from Fleetwood Mac’s mellow-rock wheelhouse, but why should they? Extended Play is hampered by its fleeting duration; however, for being an out-of-the-blue release that costs less than $5, Fleetwood Mac fans should be more than satisfied. Just know that you won’t be hearing much from Stevie Nicks or John McVie.

Album Review: Fleetwood Mac 'Extended Play'

by PushxShove
ign.com

The new Fleetwood Mac EP, aptly named "Extended Play", is a short but sweet taste of more from a band that has truly withstood the test of time. Though far too short for my taste, any new offering from my favorite band of all time is welcome. So, with that said, let's get down to business.

-Track By Track Analysis-

The first track on the short offering from the classic rock pioneers is an uptempo diddy entitled "Sad Angel". Ultimately and noticeably a Buckingham original, but Stevie throws in her beautifully rugged vocals for the perfect trademark harmony that we've come to expect from the duo. In some ways, it recalls the Self Titled and Rumours eras, while still sounding Say You Will-esk. Albeit, there's a kind of fluidity between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham that can't be found anywhere on the Say You Will album. The track is solid, with Buckinghams electric guitar providing a good deal of momentum. Overall, the song writing is ace (as expected), the instrumentation is upbeat and superb, and the harmonies are as good as years passed. Judging by this track, one could say that life has been good to Fleetwood Mac, specifically Buckingham and Nicks. A bright spot and possibly the highlight of their musicianship from the past 15 years or so, though Nicks' last album was her best effort since Bella Donna in my opinion.

"Without You" is a practically age old track from the Buckingham-Nicks era that the two reworked and recorded with the rest of Fleetwood Mac for the EP. Though slower than "Sad Angel", "Without You" is a semi-upbeat kind of love song. Akin to the likes of the live rendition of "Big Love" or the Rumours era classic "I Don't Want To Know", this track is an acoustic folk-rocker of a song that captures some of the long time magic of Buckingham-Nicks, and maybe, just maybe might give you some insight into the early years of their ever complicated relationship. The track itself first might seem to be an offering from solely the duo and not Fleetwood Mac, but you'll come to find that "Without You" has an integral element of Fleetwood Mac to it now. Listen to Mick Fleetwoods drumming, Buckinghams wiser, more experienced vocals and the gorgeous harmony from Nicks, the sound is unmistakable. 

The next track, things slow down and take a turn for the melancholic with a piano fueled ballad called "It Takes Time". There's an eeriness to this track, an eeriness that Fleetwood Mac has mastered over the years, a kind of haunting feeling, as found on tracks "Gold Dust Woman" and "I'm So Afraid" (the Live '97 rendition specifically). Though not nearly as dark and mysterious as the latter, "It Takes Time" still manages to harbor a good deal of emotion and the piano may even hark back to 80's solo efforts of Christine McVie. Based on a few things she's said lately, McVie playing the keys with Fleetwood Mac isn't as far fetched as years passed. She recently stated that she may be interested in playing with the group as a guest on a London date or two. Good news for those McVie fans out there. 

Then the magic picks up again, a track that reminds me of what could almost be a Rumours deep cut. With "Miss Fantasy", Buckingham flirts with falsetto but his trademark tone enshrouds the chorus, "Miss fantasy/It may be you don't remember me/but I remember you" states Buckingham with the light, wispy background vocals of Nicks, who has seemingly reverted to a younger, lighter, more youthful tone. Acoustic strumming, classically irresistible Fleetwood drums, then light echo effects on Buckhingman stating "I remember you", as the track slowly comes to a close. I connect with this song at a level that i've come to expect from Fleetwood Mac. The true Fleetwood Mac gem you're looking for is here, especially if you're a Buckingham fan. This track would be a true treat to see live as well. 

-The Verdict-

Highlights: THE WHOLE EP, but specifically Sad Angel and Miss Fantasy (if one has to pick favorites).

Sad Angel: 9.8/10

Without You: 9/10

It Takes Time: 8.7/10

Miss Fantasy: 10/10

Buckingham shows that he still has what it takes to be the guitarist and partial vocalist of the band, his vocals are better than ever before (see "Miss Fantasy"). His musicianship on the EP alone is worthy of praise, as seen on "Sad Angel". Stevie Nicks lends her vocals to three of the four tracks, providing her ever excellent sense of harmony and classic background vocals. The rest of the band seems to be in top form as well. Micks unmistakable drumming is as contemporary as ever, while still retaining some impact. John isn't as prevalent but you can tell it just wouldn't be the same without him. Stevie and Lindsey ring in their age old pop sensibilities to make strong, artful music with soul, and for that reason I don't think many fans will miss Christine McVie on this particular effort. Every fan differs though. 

Through high and low, through love and hate, through drama and strife, and even through lineup changes, Fleetwood Mac trudges on, performing, recording, and recapturing the magic and the sensation that started it all. 4 out of 5 stars, 9/10, 90 out of 100, whatever way you want to put it, the only thing bad about this EP is the fact that it's an EP and not a full album! Hopefully this magical offering is just a taste of what's possibly to come from such a beautifully talented and ageless band, that will forever be my favorite, and that will forever make music worth listening to.

FLEETWOOD MAC STILL HAVE PLENTY OF GAS IN THE TANK
Phoenix Music Online

Fleetwood Mac are back with their first studio material in ten years, Extended Play-EP, Which was released last week. The EP shows off three new tracks, `Sad Angel´ `It Takes Time´ and `Miss Fantasy´ that are penned by Lindsey Buckingham and it also includes `Without You´ Which is a revamped track, That was originally written by Stevie Nicks from the Buckingham Nicks project.

Extended Play opens with Sad Angel, Which is an upbeat Country-esque ditty that will have you singing along after just one listen. A great tempo and melody sprinkled with the magic of Buckingham and Nicks on vocals, Who are still a force to be reckoned with and the track dances forward without missing a beat.  The Tempo gets stripped down in Without You with this revamped acoustic track from the early days. Its Buckingham, Nicks and a guitar, Keeping it simple, raw and real. There ´s nothing overworked about this Folk/Country inspired track, Which perfects it.

It Takes Time leads on with a slow tempo and melody allowing you to listen to the eerie lyrical affair tracing Buckingham´s lips. He takes his time on this track letting the listener drink it up slowly and savoring its grandeur. Extended Play heads for its close with Miss Fantasy, Where the tempo picks up slightly and the melody is sure to follow into the fantasy of the song as it swirls you around the lyrics.

Four, Non- Overworked tracks that ooze perfection and touch on the past but that are also very much in the present. It gives a craving for much more and Fleetwood Mac still have plenty of gas in the tank.

Fleetwood Mac "Extended Play"
by Eric Pahls
EricPahls.com

Ten years after their last sudio album, Fleetwood Mac (Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood) is back with a brand-new 4-song EP, called, funny enough, Extended Play.

Extended Play features 3 brand new songs written by guitarist Buckingham.  It also hosts Without You, which was written by Nicks 4 decades ago in her pre-Fleetwood Mac days in her and Buckingham's band, Buckingham Nicks.  This is the only song Nicks wrote on the EP, as her mother died when the other 3 members began work on the recordings.

Extended Play starts with Sad Angel, which is an up-tempo rocker filled with repitition and the glamour of the 63 to 67-year-old supergroup.  This song is the crowning jewel of this EP, and it quickly signals what Buckingham has said, the band has chapters yet to be written.

Without You is a song rich with acoustic charm and laced with the sweet and rosinate harmony that has defined Nicks and Buckingham for the entirety of their tumultuous career together.  Nicks has called it the nicest words she has written about Buckingham, as most of their hits are the songs during and after their very ugly split.  The song was lost, and turned up on YouTube.  It seems to come out at a great time, as the duo seems to be getting along as well as ever.  Without You is a beautiful and simple love song that transcends from it's origin 40 years ago to its release this week with its meaning and voices perfectly intact.

The real surprise of this EP is It Takes Time, which is a solo with Buckingham on piano (whaaat?!) and a touch of orchestration in certain points of the song.  It is a sad ballad that takes an introspective look at his place in what we assume is the failure of he and Nicks' relationship, and the healing that follows.  It is a quiet and gentle song with an intense amount of emotion.  It is uncharacteristic of most of Buckingham's more punk-rock work, but can be looked at as an unexpected and refreshing change of pace.

Miss Fantasy is another upbeat jam with Buckingham covering the verses and Nicks coming in on the harmony in the chorus.  It is a slightly upbeat acoustic quirky rock song that wraps up the EP with the classic Buckingham style of going just outside the norm.

This EP is a great sign towards hopes of a new album, and continued productivity of one of the greatest bands of all time.  Lindsay is still the guitar hero and musical mad genius he always has been, John McVie still lays into stirring bass lines, Mick Fleetwood can get you on your feet and moving with a killer rhythm, and Stevie Nicks can floor you with that low, rosinate and nearly indescribable voice that remains a treasure for adoring fans.  Fleetwood Mac lives on, and I strongly encourage you to check out the new EP, Extended Play, right now!     

A new Fleetwood Mac track finds the group as lively as ever

by Noah Cruickshank May 6, 2013
A.V. CLUB

In Hear This, A.V. Club writers sing the praises of songs they know well—some inspired by a weekly theme and some not, but always songs worth hearing.

Fleetwood Mac’s announcement that it was making an EP was surprising: The group hadn’t released new music since 2003’s underrated Say You Will, and its current arena tour seemed more like another back-catalog cash-grab than a chance to road-test new material. Likewise, the band hasn’t done much publicity behind the new music, keeping the release date secret and only playing two of the new songs live. But there’s no reason for Lindsey Buckingham and company to be coy: Extended Play’s opener, “Sad Angel,” is everything a fan could want from latter-day Mac. With frenetic guitar from Buckingham, expert harmony from Stevie Nicks, and a chorus that’s catchy as hell, the song is a great reminder of how well these folks can craft pop music. Buckingham has been making quality albums on his own for this past decade, but he’s livelier than ever on “Sad Angel,” drawing parallels between the bombast of war and rock music. Even Mick Fleetwood’s drumming is more energetic than it’s been since the ’80s. If Fleetwood Mac has more tracks like this in them, here’s hoping another album surfaces soon. 

Fleetwood Mac: Extended Play – EP
by Simon Sweetman
Off The Tracks

Though you could argue it’s phoned in by the title alone, I really like this four-track EP by Fleetwood Mac, the band’s first release in a decade and their second set of recordings sans Christine McVie. Once again her presence is missed – because it’s now just The Stevie and Lindsey Show and her counterpoint was (always) crucial.

Where Say You Will, the band’s last album, was far too long (some 75 minutes) Extended Play is probably just a bit too short – six tracks might have been nice. But it’s a move I applaud. For two (crucial) reasons. Firstly, Fleetwood Mac is a hits-act, running the nostalgia circuit, giving its fans what they want, delivering shit-hot performances, still white-hot with Lindsey’s guitar prowess front and centre, that oh-so-capable rhythm section, Nicks still playing the twirling white-witch bogan-fantasy to the hilt and – yes – The Stevie and Lindsey Show is a big part of the sound and look and story of the band’s tours – as it has been since 1975 (with just a slight break). So fans want to hear the hits and a new album would be a waste of time but a new EP allows them a fan-souvenir and a chance for the band to slip in just a wee bit of new material. A nice touch, I say.

But the other great reason for a four-track EP at this stage in their career – far more important, I say – is this idea of simply offering all you have to say at any one moment and nothing more. Or, put another way, offer up your best work – avoid the filler. So Fleetwood Mac only has four songs they want to share right now. So be it. See reason one above – no one is going to a Fleetwood Mac show for the new material.

I don’t see this move of releasing an EP as misguided, I think it’s smart that a band like Fleetwood Mac releases an EP over an album; that they’ve done so at this stage in their career pleases me. More bands should be releasing just the good material.

So, all that said, is the material on the EP good enough?

For the most part, yes. And – it has to be said – thanks to Lindsey. Three of the four songs are from Buckingham, who really has been doing the heavy-lifting since Tusk. And – in the decade since Say You Will – he’s the Mac member that’s offered the most outside of the band; his solo albums a grand showcase for his skills; each album offering something new, a fresh angle. The other song is one that Buckingham had a hand in way back; has been resurrected.

So, opener, Sad Angel is the sort of immaculate pop song Buckingham has been scrubbing since his first solo album and in the way the riff dissolves into the hook it bears some resemblance to his great solo track Trouble. It’s a strong new addition to the Mac cannon.

Without You is a re-recording of a pre-Mac Buckingham/Nicks demo – and though it’s lightweight it plays into the history and is something for fans to hear; to reconnect with that soap-opera back-story that is so important to this band. It’s the weakest song on Extended Play however.

But It Takes Time is gorgeous, Lindsey at the piano, deciding – essentially – that if the band is missing Christine McVie and Christine McVie Songs he’ll just write one. It Takes Time wouldn’t have been out of place on the recent return from Bill Fay. It’s my pick for winning track on EP – it’s the something special you often find on EPs.

And the closer, Miss Fantasy, is another strong pop song. Flavours of the Mac of old. Just enough to distinguish it – and the other songs here – from Lindsey’s solo career; it’s deceptively slight at first – just 17 minutes after all – but you hear the textures, that lovely feel that is signature.

Will it change the world? No. Will it keep the fans happy? Of course.

Fleetwood Mac, Extended Play (LMJS Productions) * * * 1/2  
By Howard Cohen
The Miami Herald

Fleetwood Mac’s first new music since 2003’s Say You Will is short on Stevie Nicks, who resisted recording a full album with the group. The resulting four-track EP, released to iTunes as a digital download, makes you wish for more on the strength of Lindsey Buckingham’s three new songs.

Nicks contributes the folksy Without You, a reject from the 1973 sessions for the Buckingham Nicks LP. The pair harmonize over Buckingham’s tinny acoustic strumming. Meh.

Much better: Buckingham’s fresh songs in which he returns to writing crisp, accessible, engaging California pop/rock, like the infectiously melodic and rhythmically driving Sad Angel and the breezy Miss Fantasy, a piquant taste of Mirage-era Mac that makes great use of the famed rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie.

His stark solo piano ballad, It Takes Time — imagine Christine McVie’s Songbird as its closest cousin — intrigues the most because it’s unlike anything the guitarist has released.


First impression: Fleetwood Mac's four-song 'Extended Play'
By Mikael Wood
LA Times

The four songs on the new Fleetwood Mac EP -- which the legendary pop-rock outfit put up for sale on iTunes on Tuesday morning with little advance warning -- arrive steeped in echoes of the past, in at least one case quite literally: "Without You," a strummy acoustic number overlaid with harmony vocals by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, reportedly dates back to sessions for the two singers' 1973 album as a long-haired vocal duo deeply opposed to shirts.

But the other tunes on "Extended Play," newly composed by Buckingham and co-produced by him and L.A. studio pro Mitchell Froom, feel no less rooted in earlier iterations of this on-again/off-again institution.

"Miss Fantasy" has some of the folky back-porch guitar action of "Never Going Back Again," while the stripped-down "It Takes Time" could be Buckingham's version of Christine McVie's big piano ballad, "Songbird." And opener "Sad Angel," which you can hear below, shimmers with the glossy textures of 1987's "Tango in the Night." (Incidentally, if you want to get a sense of Fleetwood Mac's enduring influence on synthed-up young rock acts like Phoenix, go straight to "Tango" -- it looms larger these days than the vaunted "Rumours" does.)

Nothing about this self-reference surprises, of course, especially given that Fleetwood Mac is in the midst of a giant arena tour that will bring the band to the Hollywood Bowl on May 25 and Anaheim's Honda Center on May 28. Old hits are what the members are playing onstage -- "Don't Stop," "Dreams," "Go Your Own Way," "Silver Springs" -- so old hits are what the members are hearing in their heads.

And yet "Extended Play" -- Fleetwood Mac's first studio output since "Say You Will" in 2003 -- doesn't sound stale or overworked; indeed, the songs have an impressive crispness (after only a handful of spins, anyway) that makes their familiarity seem less like evidence of a tapped creative supply than like proof that this is simply the kind of music Fleetwood Mac writes.

"I remember you," Buckingham sings over and over again near the end of "Miss Fantasy," and he might be addressing his own melody. But it's a good one. You'll remember it too.

New music review: Extended Play, Fleetwood Mac
By Bernard Perusse
The Montreal Gazette

It wasn't quite the blindside of David Bowie's sudden emergence in January with new music. Lindsey Buckingham had started the jungle telegraph with an announcement at Fleetwood Mac's April 6 concert in Philadelphia that the group would release an EP of new material "in a few days." 

But the actual appearance of the music yesterday on iTunes still came as a surprise in an era when release dates are etched in stone and the hype machine gets going ages before the music surfaces. 

Four tracks from the Mac - one of them a rediscovered oldie - is not the feat Bowie accomplished with 17 unheard songs. But it shares the same decade-long gestation period: this is the group's first fresh recording since the 2003 album Say You Will. 

And it's a joyous 18 minutes. 

Fans will read all sorts of meanings into the lyrics, which are hard not to connect with Buckingham's often-troubled relationship with Stevie Nicks. It is, after all, the backdrop for rock n' roll's longest-running soap opera. 

"It's still evolving, and that's the beauty of it too. I've known Stevie since high school. We were a couple for many, many years, and we've been a musical couple forever," Buckingham said to Rolling Stone. "After all this time you would think there was nothing left to discover, nothing left to work out, no new chapters to be written. But that is not the case - there are new chapters to be written." 

"I had a really good time working with him for four days at his house. I got to hang out with his family and his kids, his grown up kids, and really connect with him again. We're pretty proud of what we have done, and we're looking at it through the eyes of wisdom now, instead of through the eyes of jealousy and resentment and anger," Nicks told the same publication. 

""Hello, hello sad angel, have you come to fight the war?" Buckingham and Nicks sing in harmony during the killer chorus of opening track Sad Angel, an uptempo, catchy pop-rocker written by Buckingham. In many ways, in fact, the entire EP sounds like a Buckingham solo release: strongly melodic, filled with dreamy hooks and neurotically self-aware. 

Without You, which, tellingly, comes from the pre-Mac Buckingham-Nicks era, is the sole track penned by Nicks. It finds the two in a grizzled update of the Everly Brothers sound: over a gorgeous, crisp acoustic jangle, Nicks's rough nasality blends with Buckingham's high tenor in a celebration of where the two have brought each other. The perspective might be 40 years old, but it seems oddly poignant now. 

It Takes Time, a stark, but sweet piano ballad, finds Buckingham's protagonist struggling to connect with his own feelings, while Miss Fantasy is quite the stunner: a sunshiny, bittersweet look back, with a chorus that evokes the Beach Boys. As Nicks comes in on harmony, the track soars higher than we could have hoped for. 

No word yet on when, or even whether, a physical release will follow. 

May 2, 2013

Top 10 iTunes Rock Albums Charts

No.1 in 6 Countries - Top 5 in 17 Countries

Fleetwood Mac release new four-track EP on iTunes without warning
The songs are the band's first new material since 2003, but there is no news on whether an album will follow
Sean Michaels
The Guardian.co.uk

Fleetwood Mac have unveiled their first new music in a decade. Without fanfare or a marketing campaign, the band released their four-song EP direct to iTunes on 30 April.

The release, simply titled Extended Play, comprises a quartet of tunes: three originals by Lindsey Buckingham and one by Stevie Nicks, written in 1973 when the pair were still the duo Buckingham Nicks. This is hardly a set of sexagenarians' basement tapes: Without You – not be confused with the Danny Kirwan-written Mac song of the same name – and Sad Angel are as shiny as Rumours, and even the lonely piano ballad, It Takes Time, has a dramatic synths/strings coda.

Buckingham revealed plans for the EP at a gig in Philadelphia earlier this month – the band have been performing some of the new songs on their current tour. "It's the best stuff we've done in a long time," he said, promising that the record would be out "in a few days". It took a few weeks, instead, but within hours of appearing on iTunes, Extended Play had appeared in the digital shop's top 10 chart, though it has since dropped.

"We all felt that it would be great to go into the studio and record new material before embarking on this tour and the result has been remarkable," Buckingham said in a statement. Nicks has previously indicated that Fleetwood Mac would only record another full-length if she felt certain fans would buy it. "Big, long albums don't seem to be what everybody wants these days," she told Billboard in February. "[Let's] see if the world does want more music from us … If we get that feeling, that they do want another 10 songs, we can reassess."

One of Buckingham's new songs is an explicit response to Nicks's musical reticence. "At the moment [Sad Angel] was being written, I was really thinking about the fact that [Stevie] and I were not agreeing on the idea of an album," he recently told MSN. "The chorus is, 'Hello, sad angel, have you come to fight the war?' It goes on to talk about 'the crowd's calling out for more' … [Sad Angel and Miss Fantasy] are songs about Stevie and me."

Prior to Extended Play, Fleetwood Mac's most recent new recording was the 2003 album Say You Will. That record reached No 6 on the UK album charts, and achieved gold sales, but fell well short of the band's commercial peak from 1975 to 1987. The band have sold more than 100m albums worldwide.

Fleetwood Mac are currently in the midst of a North American tour, with plans to visit the UK and Europe this fall.

FLEETWOOD MAC, ‘EXTENDED PLAY’ – ALBUM REVIEW
by Michael Gallucci
Ultimate Classic Rock
Rating: 7/10

The last time Fleetwood Mac made an album together, they were minus Christine McVie and enough good songs to fill its 75-minute running length. They’re still without McVie on their new four-song EP, but they fixed ‘Say You Will’’s biggest problem by keeping ‘Extended Play’ at an economical 17 minutes. And if it sounds more like a Lindsey Buckingham record than an actual band one at times, at least ‘Extended Play’ is the best thing released under the Fleetwood Mac moniker since 1987’s ‘Tango in the Night.’

In fact, ‘Extended Play,’ which is available exclusively on iTunes, sounds a lot like Buckingham’s recent solo albums, but with a punchier rhythm section and Stevie Nicks’ backing vocals. All of which give the music way more life than if Buckingham – whose insular approach to his solo records often make them sound thin and narrow – would have recorded them himself.

The opening ‘Sad Angel,’ propelled by acoustic guitar and a killer hook, crackles with more energy than anything the band or Buckingham, who wrote and sings lead on all but one of the EP’s four tracks, has done in years. It doesn’t hurt that Nicks and Buckingham still make a great singing team, chiming in on the choruses like it’s 1977 again. The song is the highlight of ‘Extended Play’ and its only real uptempo track.

But the remaining three songs are almost as good, especially the closing ‘Miss Fantasy,’ a shuffling pop number featuring a whispered vocal by Buckingham, with Nicks pushing along the choruses. The hushed piano ballad ‘It Takes Time’ is mostly Buckingham until the final minute, when strings swell around the spare melody. And Nicks and Buckingham share lead vocals on ‘Without You,’ a leftover cut from the pair’s pre-Fleetwood Mac duo days written by Nicks.

Fleetwood Mac have been performing a couple of the songs on their current tour, so in a way, ‘Extended Play’ doubles as a show souvenir for fans wanting new material from the band. It’s not essential Mac by any means, but after all these years, and all these years apart, it’s nice to know that they’re still capable of making some sweet music together.

Fleetwood Mac - Extended Play EP (2013)
by Nick DeRiso
Somethingelsereviews.com

The center point of this new Fleetwood Mac EP is a track thought lost from the Buckingham-Nicks era, a song that once might have just been about being in love but now billows with a very mature sense of acceptance.

“Without You,” presented again as a stripped-down pairing, peels away the recriminations of “Go Your Own Way,” the sad laments of “Dreams,” the lost years when they couldn’t speak to one another, much less work together. What’s left is a friendship forged through a shared history in music, a creative endeavor that Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks can do apart but, yet, always seems more fully formed, more complete, when they are together.

Who can blame Mick Fleetwood, then trying to transition Fleetwood Mac from its first life as a blues-rock outfit, for snapping these two up? Now back on tour, though alas again without Christine McVie, they’ve released a zippy four-song cycle that certainly cures the biggest problem with their overstuffed most recent effort Say You Will, a 2003 long player that went way too long.

None of it will make you put Rumours aside but there’s a renewed spark to Extended Play — available now through iTunes — that’s been missing forever. “It Takes Time,” for instance, finds Buckingham in a darkly contemplative mood, whispering over a ruminative piano figure — vulnerable in a way that he never could be with Fleetwood Mac back at their commercial zenith. As he looks back, the track makes stark admissions about the mistakes we only see after a relationship is over.

Maybe they’re better like this, in bite-size morsels.

Angular and propulsive, “Miss Fantasy” has the nervy attitude of Buckingham’s best tracks on the sprawling Tusk, and may be the most perfect pop song Fleetwood Mac has completed since the sad departure of McVie — who always served as a leavening element in the torrid emotional script being written between the ex-lovers Nicks and Buckingham.

“Sad Angel” begins with a staccato guitar signature, as Buckingham launches into one of his patented hurtful yodels, only to be joined by a completely reinvigorated Nicks. Despite its plaintive title, however, this thing rocks — with a muscular rhythmic counterpoint from Fleetwood and John McVie, and one of Buckingham’s most propulsive solos since “Holiday Road,” back in 1983.

New Fleetwood Mac Song Hits Internet Following EP Release
Cleveland Scene

Fleetwood Mac released a new EP today, titled Extended Play. It's the first batch of fresh music from them in about a decade.

The band tossed one of the three new songs, "Sad Angel," onto the web today. It's getting some pretty favorable press, mostly due to the chug-a-lug rhythm section.

The EP is available via iTunes.

Music Editor Jeff Niesel reviewed the band's April 4 show in Columbus, which he noted was a beautiful nod to their legacy. Regarding "Sad Angel," here's his take: "The song had a driving guitar riff but suffered from its wimpy keyboard riff."

Fleetwood Mac Release 'Extended Play' EP
Four-song set marks the band's first new music in 10 years
By RJ Cubarrubia
Rolling Stone

Fleetwood Mac have returned with their first batch of new music in 10 years. Extended Play, available now exclusively on iTunes, contains the new tracks "Sad Angel," "It Takes Time" and "Miss Fantasy," penned by Lindsey Buckingham. It also includes "Without You," a rediscovered and revamped track originally written by Stevie Nicks from the pair's Buckingham Nicks project.

Extended Play is Fleetwood Mac's first studio release since the 2003 LP Say You Will. Buckingham promised the EP was on the way earlier this month during a concert in Philadelphia. In January, he talked to Rolling Stone about how his relationship with Stevie Nicks has developed over the years.

"It's still evolving, and that's the beauty of it too. I've known Stevie since high school. We were a couple for many, many years, and we've been a musical couple forever," Buckingham said. "After all this time you would think there was nothing left to discover, nothing left to work out, no new chapters to be written. But that is not the case – there are new chapters to be written."

Fleetwood Mac are currently on a North American tour. Their next show is tonight at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. For full tour dates, visit the band's website.


Fleetwood Mac Releases New "Extended Play" EP
ABC News Radio
For the first time in a decade, Fleetwood Mac is releasing new music.

Available now on iTunes, their Extended Play EP includes three songs written by Lindsey Buckingham and produced by Buckingham and Mitchell Froom: “It Takes Time,” “Miss Fantasy” and the Buckingham-driven “Sad Angel.”  A fourth tune, “Without You,” was composed by Stevie Nicks, who co-produced it with Buckingham. The song dates from the early ’70s when Buckingham and Nicks were a duo and hadn’t yet joined Fleetwood Mac.  It was considered lost until a demo was posted on YouTube.

Fleetwood Mac kicked off their 48-city North American tour April 4 in Columbus, Ohio.  Buckingham says in a statement, “We all felt that it would be great to go into the studio and record new material before embarking on this tour and the result has been remarkable — our best group of songs in a long time.” He adds, “It’s a work in progress but we’re so enthused by what we’ve done that we thought we’d share some of it with our fans in the form of an EP now…We’re performing two cuts, “Sad Angel” and “Without You” in the show and the response has been terrific.”

Following the North American tour that ends July 6 in Sacramento, California, Fleetwood Mac will take a break and then begin their European tour September 20 in Dublin, Ireland.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio


Fleetwood Mac Release New EP ‘Extended Play’
Elmore Magazine

Fleetwood Mac release their first new material in 10 years
Uncut

Fleetwood Mac release new EP 'Extended Play' on iTunes
NME

Where Do I Start With Fleetwood Mac?
Slate.com

Fleetwood Mac release first music for 10 years
Listen: Hear a track from Fleetwood Mac's four-song EP, Extended Play, their first new music for a decade.
Telegraph.co.uk

Fleetwood Mac unveils first new material in 10 years
CBS News

Fleetwood Mac release new 'Extended Play' collection - listen
The band have returned with mini collection Extended Play, which was released to iTunes earlier today (April 30). Digital Spy

LISTEN: Fleetwood Mac Release First New Music in Ten Years
Fleetwood Mac have today released their first new music in ten years, dropping new EP, titled Extended Play, on iTunes.
Gigwise

Fleetwood Mac 'Extended Play' Released As Band Debuts New Songs
The Huffington Post
By Madeline Boardman

Fleetwood Mac Release Four New Songs LISTEN HERE
Noise11

Fleetwood Mac Release 'Extended Play,' First New Music in a Decade
By Billboard Staff
Billboard Magazine

Fleetwood Mac have released their first collection of new music in a decade. As promised, the legendary band tabled a full album in favor of an EP, titled "Extended Play" and available exclusively on iTunes.

The foursome -- Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie -- announced the release on the band's website on Tuesday.

The record kicks off with the bouncy "Sad Angel," in which Buckingham and Nicks harmonize over looping guitar and Mick Fleetwood's driving beat. "Hello, hello sad angel, have you come to fight the war?" they ask.

The rest of the EP includes the classic-sounding "Without You," which started as a track for Buckingham Nicks, the duo's pre-Mac group. There's also a piano ballad by Buckingham called "It Takes Time" and the album closer "Miss Fantasy."

It's their first new music since 2003's "Say You Will," which debuted and peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200.

The band told Billboard in February that, "Big, long albums don't seem to be what everybody wants these days." Whether a full-length album emerges from this current reunion is entirely up to fans, Nicks said.

"[Let's] see if the world does want more music from us," Nicks said. "If we get that feeling, that they do want another 10 songs, we can reassess."

Fleetwood Mac is on tour until June.

The four-track 'Extended Play' includes the newly unearthed Buckingham/Nicks composition 'Without You,' discovered on YouTube.
Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY

Fleetwood Mac, founded in 1967, is embellishing its extended stay with Extended Play, an EP released Tuesday and available exclusively on iTunes. It holds three new tunes plus Without You, a lost song unearthed from the early Buckingham/Nicks era. The tune, written by Stevie Nicks and co-produced by Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, was rediscovered when someone posted an early demo on YouTube.

The new It Takes Time, Miss Fantasy and Sad Angel were written by Buckingham and produced by him with Mitchell Froom. Sad Angel was released to radio as a single Tuesday.

Extended Play is the first recording of new Fleetwood material since the band released Say You Will in 2003. Fleetwood Mac is currently touring.

Buckingham said in a statement, "We all felt that it would be great to go into the studio and record new material before embarking on this tour, and the result has been remarkable, our best group of songs in a long time. It's a work in progress, but we're so enthused by what we've done that we thought we'd share some of it with our fans in the form of an EP now …We're performing Sad Angel and Without You in the show, and the response has been terrific."

How did a group of sexagenarians sneak up on us like this?
by Kyle Anderson
Entertainment Weekly

Though they’ve been promising this release for weeks, Fleetwood Mac finally unleashed their Extended Play EP on iTunes this morning. The band, which is currently on tour (they’ll be rocking the Sprint Center in Kansas City tonight), has been playing new tunes on stage since they kicked off, and frontman Lindsey Buckingham has been promising the release of Extended Play for several weeks.

The four songs on Extended Play represent the first newly recorded Fleetwood Mac tracks since their 2003 album Say You Will, which went gold. The highlight is “Without You,” which features a confidently strummed folk-rock stomp and some top-shelf vocal interplay between Buckingham and Nicks. If it sounds like classic Mac, that’s because it is: “Without You” was originally written by Nicks over 40 years ago and was intended as a contribution to their pre-Fleetwood combo Buckingham Nicks.

Buckingham and Nicks co-produced “Without You,” while the rest of the EP was produced by Mitchell Froom, who has previously worked with Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello, Los Lobos, and Paul McCartney.

The rest of the EP features the piano ballad “It Takes Time,” the propulsive “Sad Angel,” and the easy-grooving Miss Fantasy.

Fleetwood Mac Release New EP
By Rock Square

Lindsey Buckingham and his Fleetwood Mac bandmates have been promising a new collection of songs for the past few months, and now the wait is finally over. As of this morning, Mac’s four-song EP, which bears the straightforward title Extended Play, is available exclusively on iTunes. This is the first new batch of Fleetwood Mac songs since 2003’s Say You Will.

Extended Play features three new songs - “Sad Angel,” “It Takes Time” and “Miss Fantasy” - written by Buckingham and co-produced by Mitchell Froom. The fourth track, “Without You,” was written by Stevie Nicks and produced by Nicks and Buckingham. According to the band’s official press release, the latter track is “a lost song from the Buckingham/Nicks days which had been missing and happily rediscovered when someone posted an early demo of it on YouTube.” The internet! It is magical!

“Sad Angel” has been appearing regularly in setlists on Fleetwood Mac’s current tour of the U.S. When the band unveiled the song for its audience in Philadelphia a few weeks ago, Buckingham described it as among “the best stuff we’ve done in a long time.”

It’s difficult to disagree with his self-assessment. Check out a live performance of the new song below and marvel at Fleetwood Mac’s ability to conjure such stunning sounds at this late stage in their career.

Mac’s extensive U.S. tour brings them to the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri tonight, after which the band still has two triumphant months on the road.