Orbital announce ‘Optical Delusion’ album and Sleaford Mods collab
Orbital have announced their next full-length album, Optical Delusion. It will be the iconic electronic duo’s tenth studio record and will be released on February 17th, 2023. The album will be their first since Monsters Exist was released back in 2018.
Whilst announcing their new album, Orbital also dropped the first single from Optical Delusion, a collaboration with Sleaford Mods entitled ‘Dirty Rat’. Paul Hartnoll of the group said of the tune that received its first airplay last night on Steve Lamacq’s 6Music show, “This track is a giant capital letter. Like in the Book of Kells, where the very first letter always gets the big treatment from the monk when he’s doing his illustrated borders.”
He added, “It’s got that old-school dance music vibe with bits of Cabaret Voltaire in there, even bits of The Shamen. It’s a little bit of punk rock, nice and loud. A really refreshing, ‘wake up’ kind of track. And Jason is just brilliant!”
Phil Hartnoll of Orbital, Paul’s brother, explained, “I guess it’s about telling people to take responsibility for their own actions. You know, all these politicians don’t come from out of nowhere. Somebody keeps voting them in. So who might that be…?”
This is not the first time that Orbital and the Nottingham-based Sleaford Mods have worked together. The electro-heads released a remix of the post-punks’ tune ‘I Don’t Rate You’ last year. Jason of Sleaford Mods said in relation to the track’s themes, “The ongoing culture of non-thought mostly exists because of a lack of education into critical thought. How do you mobilise a people firmly imprisoned by a concrete system?”
Other collaborators on the album include Penelope Isles, Anna B Savage and The Mediaeval Baebes. It was recorded in Orbital’s own Brighton located studio. Check out the video for ‘Dirty Rat’ below.
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