Mojave 3’s founding members are vocalist/guitarist Neil Halstead, bassist/vocalist Rachel Goswell, and drummer Ian McCutcheon, members of definitive shoegazers Slowdive. The band broke cover in 1995, when a six-track demo impressed 4AD sufficiently to offer them a deal.

Excuses for Travellers was the first of two consecutive albums recorded with the help of friend and electronic artist Mark Van Hoen. Combining the melancholy and stripped-down intimacy of Ask Me Tomorrow and the Laurel Canyon soul of Out of Tune, it finds the band refining their touch to create a more cohesive record that rightfully sits at the middle of their ever-morphing sound.Lusciously textured with restrained guitar, drums, pedal steel, horns, and piano, it’s an introspective campfire record that let’s Neil’s voice and songwriting take center stage (“In Love with a View,” “My Life in Art,” “She Broke You So Softly”), while also featuring the only two Mojave tracks solely credited to Rachel (“Bringin’ Me Home”) and Ian (“Got My Sunshine”).

Reflecting on his growth as a songwriter, Neil says, “Unlike Slowdive, where the music is at the forefront and nobody is focusing on what anyone’s saying, you couldn’t really hide the lyrics with Mojave 3. I had to think about them more, work harder on them.”

Mojave 3’s own myth has grown, resulting in their records being some of 4AD’s most requested reissues of the last decade. With these 2026 reissues putting all five albums in print once again, perhaps it’s Mojave 3’s time to rise from the ashes and fly once again.

Tracklist:

1. In Love with a View
2. Trying to Reach You
3. My Life in Art
4. Return to Sender
5. When You’re Drifting
6. Any Day Will Be Fine
7. She Broke You So Softly
8. Prayer for the Paranoid
9. Bringin’ Me Home
10. Got My Sunshine

UPC: 191400082823
Label: 4AD
Release Date: 7.24.26
Format: CD