THE ORB ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM ABOLITION OF THE ROYAL FAMILIA OUT MARCH 27 ON COOKING VINYL
NEW SINGLE “DAZE” OUT NOW
On March 27, 2020, Cooking Vinyl present Abolition of the Royal Familia the 17th album by THE ORB, formed prolific electronic godfather Alex Paterson and his rotating roster of collaborative cohorts. It forms part two of a pair – a continuation of the same “anything goes” ethos as the previous, critically-acclaimed 2018 longplayer No Sounds Are Out Of Bounds.
This new offering marks the first album with Paterson and Michael Rendall as main writing partners, with the new blood having risen-up-the-ranks from a member of The Orb’s touring band, to a studio engineer, and now graduated to half of the fully-fledged core duo. For this new offering, the pair also took over production duties from Youth, who corralled sessions for the last LP.
Abolition… features guest turns from Youth, Roger Eno, Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy (from Gong and System 7), On U-Sound’s David Harrow, Alex’s dog Ruby, a 17 year-old trumpeter named Oli Cripps (who was working a Saturday job in Alex’s local record shop when the pair met), his cousin Leyton on whistle, real strings courtesy of Violetta, and a whole lot more (listed below).
With its provocative, mafia-alluding title, Hogarth/Chapman Brothers-inspired cover by artist Pure Evil and a no-longer-present sample of Prince Charles (removed for litigious reasons), it’s clear that Abolition.. continues The Orb’s recent run of records which protest against the establishment, albeit in their own roundabout and idiosyncratic way.
Having met Steven Hawking at a lecture and later being told that the legendary cosmologist used to listen to The Orb, the pulsing technotrance of “Hawk Kings” is Patterson’s tribute, which he describes as “a monster of a tune, in a similar mood to ‘Assassin’ and ‘Toxygene’”. An embryonic version of “Honey Moonies” went down a storm at Youth’s Space Mountain Festival in southern Spain, and with the finished article’s vintage deep sunrise house, it’s easy to see why.
An ironic juxtaposition (named as it is after a methamphetamine given to German soldiers in WW2), “Pervitin” marks the first in a passage of epic ambient gems, which follows with the orchestral, WNBC radio-referencing “Afros, Afghans and Angels”, and onto “Shape Shifters (in two parts)”, which segues from blue jazzy beauty into pimped-out-funk-meets-dub.
Bass-heavy reggae vibes continue on the brass and melodica of “Say Cheese” and onto the chugging, hip hop rubadub of “Ital Orb”. The warm happy glow of “Queen of Hearts” nods to classic jungle and the “Weekend It Rained Forever” is a 12-minute masterpiece of stunning ambient perfection. The album closes with “Slave Till U Die No Matter What U Buy” – a cosmic overhaul of Jello Biafra’s “Stay In Your Home”.
Personnel
Michael Rendall, Roger Eno, Youth, Steve Hillage, Miquette Giraudy, Nick Burton, Violeta Vicci, Gaudi, David Harrow, Roney FM, Sherman, Paul Conboy, Ollie Cripps, Andy Cain, cousin Leyton and Ruby the dog.
The Orb
Abolition of the Royal Familia
(Cooking Vinyl)
Release Date: March 27, 2020
Artist Links
Background Photo Credit: John Hollingsworth
SPILL FEATURE: MISSING FOR DAZE…WHERE YOU GONE? – A CONVERSATION WITH ALEX PATERSON OF THE ORB
