Slated to arrive on Friday 25 September via Partisan Records / Liberator Music, Ultra Mono was recorded over a number of sessions in Paris with Nick Launay (Nick Cave, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Arcade Fire) and Adam ‘Atom’ Greenspan (Anna Calvi, Cut Copy), and features additional programming and production from YouTube’s favourite hip-hop producer Kenny Beats.
A statement released today described IDLES’ desire to construct Ultra Mono to capture the energy and feeling of a hip-hop record, with Joe Talbot’s lyrical content delving into themes of radical nationalism, class struggle, gender inequality and inclusivity. Ultra Mono also features guest vocals from Jehnny Beth of Savages, as well as contributions from Warren Ellis, David Yow and Jamie Cullum.
To accompany today’s news, IDLES have also released the new single ‘Grounds’, which Joe Talbot explained as “a song that embodied self-belief, and gave us self-belief – a counter-punch to all the doubt we build up from all the noise we so easily let in. We wanted to make the sound of our own hearts’ marching band, armed with a jack hammer and a smile. We wanted to make the sound of our engine starting. So we did.”
The band have also announced a series of livestreamed performances from an iconic studio space in the UK later in August, which you can purchase tickets to here.
Ultra Mono arrives on Friday September 25 via Partisan Records / Liberator Music. Preorder it here.
