CityLife

Dance duo on the Attack again

MANC FANS: Massive Attack

SEIZE the day, warned English poet Edward Young, procrastination is the thief of time.

It’s a warning Bristol duo Massive Attack have obstinately refused to heed down the years, putting out albums in their own sweet time, often between personal feuds.

“That’s the nature of being from Bristol,” laughs Grant ‘Daddy G’ Marshall.

“There’s never been any great emergency to do anything, that’s pretty endemic in where we come from, it’s a slower pace.”

“Not saying that we don’t try – we are skint and we need the money.”

None of their records, though, have been so long in the making as album five – Weather Underground – which has finally got a firm date of release of February 2010. It marks the end of a seven year drought of new material, but its delayed release is not because the cupboard was bare.

“When we went on tour last year, including that Becks Fusions date in Manchester, we actually had everything at the ready that’d we’d prepared for the album,” says G.

“It was a case of go on tour, get back, get in the studio, mix it. And when we got back, we’d kinda got a bit bored of the tracks, so we re-evaluated them and just decided we needed a fresher approach.

“We’re still doing the last mixes and stuff, but you know that’s the funny thing about the record; it’s 72 minutes on the record and that’s 72 minutes of your choice.

"So what we’re going to do is put out the initial album release and then put out a load of bolt-on tracks online.

“We’ve got about 20-plus tracks, but you can only fit so many on an album. The concept of an album is a bit old, done and dusted, isn’t it? It’s your playlist but not everybody likes your choices.”

The latest furious period of writing began with the assistance of DFA Records legend Tim Goldsworthy – once of UNKLE, and more recently Hercules & Love Affair – on beats.

“Although there were some amazing tracks last time we toured, we kind of ... erm... dumped all those and started again,” laughs G.

“I think we’re gonna live to regret this decision actually!

“No, like I said, it’s just a case of a different approach – let’s up the tempos and feel around for something different to what we usually come out with.”

Don’t anticipate a foray into Pixie Lott-style pop or JTQ jazz funk, though; The first signs of their new musical output, the Splitting The Atom EP, released next month, shows Massive Attack are staying true to their ambient, dance and dub roots.

Plenty of guest appearances are also promised, at least four of which appear on the EP: long-term collaborator Horace Andy, Martina Topley-Bird, TV On The Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe and Elbow’s Guy Garvey.

It’s a sound that’s earned them high praise and accolades down the years, most recently scoring them an Ivor Novello for outstanding contribution.

Peers

“Smokey Robinson, when he got his award in between tours, said, ‘I would jump on a plane just for five minutes to come and receive this award’, because it means so much to him to be recognised by his peers for all the hard work he’s done,” says G.

G said: “It’s quite an amazing thing for us to be recognised. We’re not the most conventional musicians in the world and the way that we’ve come along isn’t from the conventional music background – we’ve come up through the DJ fraternity.”

“So to actually be recognised as members of the music club, you might say, is a great accolade.”

The new music benefits, too, from a renewed sense of unity; gone, says G, is the tense friendship that he and Robert ‘3D’ Del Naja’s have famously shared.

“Well, we have gone through our ups and downs you might say,” G smiles. “But I think at the moment you’re catching us on an up. So get it while it’s hot.”

Which is all good news, because the band’s biggest world tour in years is looming, including two nights in Manchester. There’s no choice but to kiss and make up.

“There’s a couple of gigs that we really love to do and the Apollo is going to be one of those,” G enthuses. “We can’t wait to get up there – we love Manchester.”

“It’s all about the live shows for us. That’s the bit we love. It’s great to put a record out, but nowadays you can’t just sit down on your laurels and rely on the records.

“Record sales , if you wanna be quite blunt about it, don’t make you a red cent. I mean, all you have in the bag now is to go out touring, and that’s why we take pride in putting on a quality show.”

And the show, G promises, will even knock the socks off their staggering performance at last year’s Becks Fusions – a gig that crept into most Mancunian’s gigs of the year lists in 2008.

“We don’t like to repeat ourselves so there’s a few little surprises,” says G. “For us, the point is to make an impression, otherwise it’s a complete waste of time.”

Massive Attack play the Apollo on Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27. Tickets are £28.50. Call 08444 777 677 to check availability. Martina Topley Bird supports.