808 State has announced their first album in nearly two decades, Transmission Suite. At 15 tracks, it will be released on October 11. Drawing on the rich history of Manchester’s electronic music scene, as well as certain members of the city’s new guard, the album is described as an immersion in “their home city of Manchester, and the ghosts that swirl around it.”
808 State last released an album in 2002 Outpost Transmission, which capped off a 15 year period of dominance. They broke out in earnest with their album 90 in 1989, which contained the classic track “Pacific State.”
After Outpost Transmission, they would occasionally do some shows and remixes, but had faded from the spotlight. Now they are back in 2019, having already released one EP Initial Granada Report, with another coming this summer. “Tokyo Tokyo” and “Ujala” from Initial Granada Report are both on the album.
The music video for 808 State’s Tokyo Tokyo is an unrelenting onslaught of vintage gear. Watch close, though, and you may see a few surprises.
Back to the present day, Graham Massey notes that this album is a nod to the future of the world and music.
“We’re trying to make a future for other people to immerse themselves in,” says Graham of the new material. “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 kind of landscapes of futurism.”
Transmission Suite was recorded in the former home of the North West broadcasting company Granada. It was where The Beatles recorded a TV session in 1963 and 808 State performed for TV in 1989. The studio went defunct years ago and hadn’t been cleared out until 808 State recorded in there. The studio still had boxes of floppy disks lying around.
“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 and bass”, he explains. “It’s interesting how timelines can be ridden. You can jump through time-zones, and access everything. It’s not about what you bought in the record shop on a Friday night, which is how it used to be.”
See the video for “Tokyo Tokyo” now and pre-order your copy of Transmission Suite in double 12” LP, 6-Panel CD Digi-File and digital download here.
Transmission Suite Tracklist:
01. Tokyo Tokyo
02. Skylon
03. Cannonball Waltz
04. The Ludwig Question
05. Huronic
06. Landau
07. Westland
08. Trinity
09. Ujala
10. Carbonade
11. Pulcenta
12. Angol Angol
13. Bushy Bushy
14. 13 13
15. Crab Claw