Why LCD Soundsystem Frontman James Murphy Apologized To Fans For Coachella Reunion

When popular bands reunite after years on hiatus it is usually great news for its fans. However, when the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival announced that LCD Soundsystem, the dance-punk project spearheaded by producer James Murphy that broke up in 2010, would be headlining in 2016, some former fans were not so pleased. Murphy knows why and reached out on social media Tuesday to say "sorry."

In a long letter posted on the band's official Facebook page Murphy set the record straight about his band's upcoming reunion.

"We’re not just playing Coachella. We’re playing all over," Murphy wrote. "We’re not just having some reunion tour. We’re releasing a record (sometime this year — still working on it, actually), so this isn’t a victory lap or anything, which wouldn’t be of much interest to us."

Murphy explained that he has been sitting on a wealth of new songs and had enlisted some former LCD Soundsystem members to help record the material. The producer said he soon realized that both starting a new band with a different name, but the same musicians, or trying to pass off the new project as a solo album would be inaccurate and contrived, so the band together decided to reunite as LCD Soundsystem.

However, in 2010 LCD Soundsystem — and Murphy in particular — had made quite a show of retiring on top. The band staged an epic final show at Madison Square Garden in April 2011 that was documented in the 2012 concert movie "Shut Up and Play the Hits," as well as the 2014 live album "The Long Goodbye: LCD Soundsystem Live at Madison Square Garden," the latter of which Murphy spent years tinkering on himself.

Watch a clip from "Shut Up and Play the Hits" Below:

Plus, tickets for well publicized final show at Madison Square Garden were in high demand, reselling on Stubhub and elsewhere for drastically marked up prices ranging from $80 to nearly $350,000. Many fans that traveled far distances or spent a lot of money on the show (and subsequent film and album) now feel a bit duped, either financially or emotionally.

On top of that, the band has been fairly dismissive in the past about a possible reunion. Murphy had appeared to be content with other projects such as a musical overhaul of New York City subway turnstiles and a new Brooklyn wine bar. Then, when rumors of the band headlining major music festivals made news in October — those rumors would now appear to be true, whether they were based on fact at the time or not — Kris Petersen, manager at the band’s label, DFA, posted several snarky tweets, denying the reports.

So, the reunion news comes with mixed emotions for many.

"In my naiveté I hadn’t seen one thing coming: there are people who don’t hate us at all, in fact who feel very attached to the band, and have put a lot of themselves into their care of us, who feel betrayed by us coming back and playing; who had traveled for or tried to go to the [Madison Square Garden] show, and who found it to be an important moment for them, which now to them feels cheapened," Murphy wrote on Facebook. "I just hadn’t considered that."

For those fans, Murphy says all he can do is try to make the best music possible from this point forward.

"To you I have to say: I’m seriously sorry. The only thing we can do now is get back into the studio and finish this record, and make it as f------ good as we can possibly make it."

LCD Soundsystem will headline the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival April 15 and April 22. No release date has been announced for the band's new album.