808 State return. Listen to the lead single now.
Graham Massey and Andy Barker have reunited as 808 State for a new album. Transmission Suite will be the first 808 State album in 17 years – the latest since 2002’s Output Transmission. The LP will be out on 11 October and is inspired by the past and present sounds of their hometown Manchester. The lead single Toyko Tokyo is out now – listen in the player above.
The single was recorded at the old Granada TV studios, from which the album takes it name. While the LP pays homage to the Manchester music scene that first birthed the duo’s sound, it also nods to Manchester’s modern clubbing scene – referencing parties like Swing Ting and Eyes Down.
“We’re trying to make a future for other people to immerse themselves in,” says Graham in the press release. “It feels a bit like an imaginary landscape. That’s always been a big part of 808 State, when you go back through the music: these kinds of landscapes of futurism.”
“It’s often quite broken, abstract, urban music,” Massey says. “They might play weird shit: like [Bauhaus’s] Bela Lugosi’s Dead being played next to a dubstep tune, played next to a proper Jamaican reggae electronic B-side from the ’80s next to drum & bass.”
Last year 808 State went on tour with guests Lone and Pearson Sound where some tracks from the new record were debuted. Earlier this month they released the EP Initial Granada Report.
Check out the cover art and tracklist below.
Tracklist
A1 Tokyo Tokyo
A2 Skylon
A3 Cannonball Waltz
B1 The Ludwig Question
B2 Huronic
B3 Landau
B4 Westland
C1 Trinity
C2 Ujala
C3 Carbonade
C4 Pulcenta
D1 Angol Argol
D2 Bushy Bushy
D3 13 13
D2 Crab Claw