âTINY FOLDABLE CITIESâ – Impact date 5.11.18
First new album in five years: âMONSTERS EXISTâ
 Release date 9.14.18
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Duo headline BBC 6Music Biggest Weekend in Belfast.
Further headline shows include Camp Bestival, Beat-Herder, Dekmantel, Margate Dreamland, Dublin BeatYard and Brighton Racecourse
 WATCH âTINY FOLDABLE CITIESâ HERE
PRE-ORDER ‘MONSTERS EXIST’Â HERE
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Photo:Â Kenny McCracken
May 11, 2018: When monsters are loose in a darkening world, we need monsters of our own to fight back. After a barnstorming live reunion which saw them play to ecstatic audiences across Europe throughout 2017 Britainâs giants of electronic music Orbital announce theyâre back for good â with new music and an upgrade of the legendary live show that transformed festivals across the world.
Reunited brothers Paul and Phil Hartnoll release their new single, âTiny Foldable Citiesâ on May 11. An intricate piece of electro-hypnotica in the lineage of âThe Boxâ or âStyleâ, it restates why Orbital were always a cut above the bargain basement boom-and-bosh crew, and takes their signature sound forward into a new and fascinating phase.
Their first new album in five years – the one even fans wondered if theyâd ever hear -called ‘Monsters Exist’ is out September 14.
(see track-listing below).
‘Monsters Exist’Â is a more classically structured Orbital album than their previous release âWonkyâ, drawing inspiration from the international political landscape all the way back from Paul and Philâs pre-rave squat-punk roots right up to the volatile tensions and erratic rhetoric of today.
âWhen you havenât made an album in five years it just comes tumbling out,â says Paul. âBecause of the global situation I was torn between writing a really aggressive Crass-type album that says âFuck The Man!â or going back to rave sensibilities. You know, letâs really rebel by stepping away and actually living that alternative lifestyle.â But the idea of âMonsters Existâ tied it all together.
âYou donât need to spell out who the monsters are,â he says. âWeâre not pointing our fingers at Donald Trump or Kim Jong-un. Itâs clear who the monsters are. Iâve never liked preaching to people. Itâs much better to provoke a bit of thought.â
Phil puts it more succinctly. âItâs a reflection on modern day monsters,â he says. âThat can mean anything from bankers and The Man or your own demons and fears. The monsters inside you,â he says, evilly.
Among the tracks in progress is a cosmic piece featuring an address for the possible end of the world by Prof. Brian Cox (âItâs Brian being emo,â says Paul. âBrian Emoâ). Thereâs also an epic state-of-the-planet title track featuring âanguish, dread and News at Ten-style drama.â
When theyâre in balance these leading figures of British dance music constitute their own self-regulating yin and yang. Analytical, detail-oriented Paul listens to everything from new electronica by Nathan Fake and Jon Hopkins to Beck and Belle & Sebastian.â Born-again German techno fan Phil is hammering Bicep and the resurgent minimal sound of Berlin (he went to Berlin for the first time ever in 2017 âand I was like fucking hell, why havenât I been here before?â). If time is a loop then Orbital have completed their own revolution to a new equilibrium.
âThe master plan for this one,â says Paul, âis to make a bloody good album. And then see what happens.â â
Orbital bring their groundbreaking live show to BBC Musicâs Biggest Weekend in Belfast on May 25. Throughout 2018 theyâll play a string of high-profile festival dates and headline shows across Europe featuring new material alongside classics like âChimeâ, âBelfastâ and âImpactâ. (see full live dates below)
âWe had an absolutely fantastic year with the live shows in 2017,â says Phil Hartnoll. âFor instance we played the Blue Dot Festival at Jodrell Bank which was incredible, and for our London Christmas shows we really wanted to upgrade our whole production, which seemed to pay off judging by the amazing crowd reaction. It all reminded us, yes, this is why we love doing this.â
Reconnecting with Orbitalâs past, acclaimed avant-garde artist John Greenwood, who painted the famous bulbous and organic artwork for 1994âs âSnivilisationâ and 1996âs âIn Sidesâ, will return to create the cover of âMonsters Existâ. Some 20 years after he first collaborated with Orbital, Greenwoodâs shifting shapes and comical hybrid organisms â the Chapman Brothers meets Monsanto, or maybe Hieronymus Bosh-bosh-bosh â feel even more in sync with an era obsessed with its own genetic monsters. âWeâve always loved Johnâs work,â says Phil, âand it feels especially right for this record.â
This surge of creativity shows how the Hartnolls have rebuilt one of electronic musicâs best-loved partnerships after Orbitalâs surprisingly bitter break-up in 2012. Driven apart by musicâs strange and infamous brother-vs-brother dynamic, Paul and Phil didnât speak for five years after the âWonkyâ tour ended.
âWhen we fell out, I just couldnât enjoy any of the amazing things weâd done over 25 years with Orbital,â says Phil. Theyâd been onstage with Stephen Hawking at the Paralympics, in front of the whole world. Theyâd remixed Madonna. Theyâd played Glastonbury many times and travelled the world. âAnd this silly row sort of poisoned it. How daft is that?â
Now the brothers have a pact. Whatever happens, Orbital does not stop. âWeâve learned to talk to each other rather than let things stew, and itâs much better,â says Phil. âWe used to waste a lot of energy wondering what the other one was thinking and getting on each otherâs nerves. But now we actually talk! And itâs brilliant.â
âIt was silly really,â adds Paul. âWeâre brothers and business partners and creative partners, so we were three times as likely to fall out. But in the end we had to remind ourselves that Orbital is something weâre really proud of and that we love doing it.â
Itâs healthy, he thinks, to be reminded of how lucky youâve been, of how you need each other, of how youâve got to let each other play to their strengths. âIf we were both the same,â says Paul, âthen it wouldnât be Orbital.â
âBattle ye not with monsters, said Friedrich Nietzche, âlest ye become a monster.â But there is more than one kind of monster and more than one kind of battle. Thereâs monsters of fear and tyranny, monsters of greed, and yes, the destructive monsters of sibling rivalry.
And in the other corner, fighting the good fight, are the monsters of the imagination⊠the monsters of rock⊠and the monsters of rave.
âMonsters Existâ is out September 14 via ACP Recordings on CD, 2CD, 2LP, 4LP Box Set & digital. Pre-order here: https://Orbital.lnk.to/
Track listing:
Standard CD / Deluxe Edition Disc 1
1. Monsters Exist
2. Hoo Hoo Ha Ha
3. The Raid
4. P.H.U.K.
5. Tiny Foldable Cities
6. Buried Deep Within
7. Vision OnE
8. The End Is Nigh
9. There Will Come A Time (Featuring Prof. Brian Cox)
Deluxe Edition Disc 2
1. Kaiju
2. A Long Way From Home
3. Analogue Test Oct 16
4. Fun With The System
5. Dressing Up In Other Peopleâs Clothes
6. To Dream Again
7. There Will Come A Time – Instrumental
8. Tiny Foldable Cities – Kareful Remix
Live:
MAY
May 25 , Belfast, BBC Music Biggest Weekend, Titanic Slipways
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JUNE
11 Moscow, Bosco Fresh Festival
29 Brighton Racecourse
30 Hull, Zebedeeâs Yard
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JULY
13 Beat-Herder Festival
14 Barcelona, Cruilla Festival
28 Margate, Dreamland
29 Camp Bestival, Big Top
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AUGUST
3 Dekmantel, Amsterdam Holland
5 Dublin, Beat Yard Festival
11 Gateshead, Sage
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SEPTEMBER
01 Bristol, Downs Festival
08 Birmingham, Shiiine On Genting Arena â 1 day festival
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NOVEMBER
18 Minehead, Shiiine On Butlins Weekender
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DECEMBER
15 London, Hammersmith Apollo
18 Sheffield, Academy
19 Cambridge, Corn Exchange
20 Manchester, Apollo
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