After announcing news of their reformation for a series of (now long sold out) shows at Manchester's Heaton Park next summer, The Stone Roses have now announced that they've signed a pair of record deals.

The newly reunited Manchester four-piece, who have mentioned since the reformation that they plan to record new material, announced on Facebook this weekend that they've signed contracts with Universal Music in London and Columbia Records in New York. The news will doubless fuel speculation as to whether anything new is likely to emerge any time soon, as well as about the quality of said new material.

It does, though, suggest that the Roses might well buck the general trend for reforming rock bands, and actually release a reasonable quantity of new music. More news when we have it.