In November 2012, Kevin Shields announced plans to release My Bloody Valentine's third album online before the end of the year. In December, the band announced on Facebook that the album was completed and mastered, and on 27 January 2013, during a warmup show at Electric Brixton in London, Shields told the audience that the album "might be out in two or three days." The album, titled "m b v", was released through the band's official website on 2 February 2013, and the resulting high traffic crashed the site. Upon its release, "m b v" received "universal acclaim," according to Metacritic, and the band began a worldwide tour.