UNKLE Returns With Staunch New Single
The new single is the first to be taken from the upcoming new album The Road: Part II/Lost Highway
They don’t come more 90’s than James Lavelle. He is the man behind Mo’Wax, a label that was at the forefront of the trip-hop explosion, turntablism, street culture and alternative hip-hop. Some of the more seminal releases in the label’s back catalogue include the classic DJ Shadow release ‘Endtroducing’, and DJ Krush’s ‘Strictly Turntablized’. And if you still need evidence of their cultural footprint we present to you that track form the Matrix. (It’s the zeitgeist enveloping ‘Clubbed to Death’ from Rob Dougan). He’s even had a documentary made about him. You get it, he’s important.
Not only was Lavelle part of the nineties stable of superstar DJs, he was also the ringleader for alternative rock/electronic act UNKLE, a live outfit that saw Lavelle collaborate with artist such as Thom Yorke (Radiohead), Mike D (Beastie Boys) and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age). To really sum it up: UNKLE albums rock with guitars and sizzle with electronics.
After a two year break, UNKLE has just announced their return with new album ‘The Road: Part II/Lost Highway’, a sprawling 2CD release which confirms that Lavelle hasn’t been resting on his laurels as a cultural icon. Compared to other UNKLE releases this one seems a bit more tempered, something that Lavelle admits too: ‘I started doing a show on Soho Radio last year, which made me think about playing records in a different way,” says Lavelle. “It wasn’t about trying to make people dance in a nightclub. It was a breath of fresh air, and about playing a more eclectic mix. ‘The Road Part 2’ was made in the same way – it’s a mixtape and a journey. You’re in your car, starting in the day and driving into the night. The language of it was for it to be the ultimate road trip.
The first single Ar.mour is fkg fire and a real return to the trip hop sound that Lavelle built his empire on. And we are not complaining. Watch out fo rah the albums full 2CD release on the 29th of March through Songs for the Def.