In an interview in the December issue of Vanity Fair, Jack White hints that a White Stripes reunion might be just around the corner.
In the interview (not online), White is asked why he's releasing the group's first three albums on vinyl, along with The White Stripes Merchandise Collection, an elaborate $499 boxed set that includes a record player, headphones and more.
"We thought we'd do a lot of things that we'd never done: a full tour of Canada, a documentary, coffee-table book, live album, a boxed set," White says. "It was one long project that took almost three years. Now that we've gotten a lot of that out of our system, Meg and I can get back in the studio and start fresh."
The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights Photographs
As the White Stripes fan site Antiquiet points out, the status of White's two other bands seems to make the timing right: His Dead Weather bandmates Dean Fertita and Alison Mosshart are working on new albums, and two of his fellow Raconteurs, Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler, have returned to the Greenhornes, who just released their fourth album.
The White Stripes' most recent studio album, Icky Thump, was released in 2007. The group briefly interrupted their hiatus to perform on the final episode of Late Night With Conan O'Brien in February of last year. White also performed with O'Brien on the premiere of his new show Monday.
Listen to two tracks from Conan O'Brien's live album recorded with Jack White
In the meantime, the Merchandise Collection — pressed in a limited edition of 333 and available only as a full set — will be available in Third Man Records' Nashville store and for pre-order starting December 1. Included is a new red-vinyl pressing of the rare "Merry Christmas From The White Stripes" 7-inch, along with a portable record player, headphones, two record boxes and other vinyl paraphernalia — check it out here.
Jack White Vanity Fair Interview [Antiquiet.com via Consequence of Sound]