After announcing last week the release of their sixth album, The Day is My Enemy, on March 30, via their Take Me To The Hospital imprint, UK electronic music stalwarts The Prodigy have issued a video for lead track “Nasty.” Directed by Oliver Jones the animated clip for the high-octane number is centered around a wolf prowling about town with the ability to turn people into zombies.
The Prodigy’s Liam Howlett says in a missive that the upcoming album is an angry affair: “I can’t tell you why this record came out so angry, I think it’s just inbuilt in me. It’s more about what I like music to do. I’ve always seen music I like as a form of attack. That’s what I use music for, it’s an attack. I didn’t plan this album to sound violent, it’s just the sound that came out of the studio , a kind of build up over the last 4 years. ‘Anger is an energy’, that’s a lyric which always resonated with me. The tension is buried deep in the music right from the first drop. It’s all about the sound having that sense of danger. That’s what The Prodigy sound is about.”
In related news, the threesome have announced dates for their upcoming UK kicking off on May 4 in Newcastle. Tickets go on-sale on January 14.
The Prodigy’s UK Tour Dates
4 May – Newcastle 02 Academy
5 May – Bridlington Spa
7 May – Birmingham 02 Academy
8 May – Cardiff Arena
9 May – Blackpool Empress Ballroom
11 May – Reading Rivermead
12 May – Brighton Centre
14 May – Bournemouth BIC
15 May – London Alexandra Palace (3am curfew)
16 May – London Alexandra Palace
Break out the glowsticks because Sony Music will release Warehouse Anthems, a sprawling 3CD compilation of ’80s and ’90s rave era, on April 21. The collection features some of the period’s biggest tunes by The Prodigy, The Future Sound of London, 4 Hero, LFO and Opus III. Altern 8’s seminal anthem “Evapor 8” is also included, along with liner notes by the influential duo’s Mark Archer. Writes Archer, “This album serves as brilliant insight into one of the greatest musical movements of the past 30 years – and will no doubt bring the memories flooding back for everyone who was there.” Full tracklisting for Warehouse Anthems is below.
As Adam F heads to Miami’s Winter Music Conference and ponders his next studio move, the British DJ/producer/actor says he’s planning to build off the recent successes he’s had with harder acts he’s worked with, like Nero, The Prodigy and Pendulum.
“I’ve spent a lot of time on the label (Breakbeat KAOS) for quite a few years, developing a few acts that we’re real excited about who are now part of the worldwide scene,” he tells Big Shot. “It’s time for me to get back in the studio myself.”
With some prime slots at WMC, and a looming U.S. tour with Caspa later this year, Adam F has given fans a taste of where he might be headed, musically, with his latest single, “When the Rain Is Gone,” a pop-laced, dubstep jaunt, driven by a euphoric hook.
But as the indie mogul who signed Nero and released Pendulum’s first platinum album, Hold Your Colour, he admits a deep dedication to the EDM’s harder, more rock-oriented edge.
“It’s just a different part of me,” he explains. “I like that epic sound — that really edgy, in your face, raw sound, like The Prodigy. It gives me a chance to be less organized within the music. It’s more free to go left with it when you work with people like Prodigy, which is exciting. And obviously people like The Prodigy, they’ve got such a big influence on the dance scene, that you feel you have to step up to the plate to deliver.”
“That’s what dubstep has done. It’s regenerated people’s minds to want to work together. It’s created this new bass music where everything is fused together.”
Adam has also worked with some of hip-hop’s top acts as well — from Redman to Pharaoh Monche to De La Soul to L.L. Cool J.
The L.L. Cool J collaboration, which was on LL’s 2000 smash, G.O.A.T. (The Greatest of All Time), was a true partnership in every sense. Adam not only produced the track, but did backing vocals and spent extensive time in the studio in New York with the rap icon, even rounding up girls from the streets to sing backup.
“That was fucking crazy,” he recalls of the experience. “I grew up with those guys, went to see them. I remember when Def Jam did that tour with Run-DMC, LL, The Beastie Boys. I went to that. So to work with him, that was an amazing experience.”
The hip-hop and rock influence has always made its presence felt in Adam’s music. With dubstep blurring the genre lines even further, he’s heading back into the studio, where he says he’ll toss convention aside and meld several styles into what he hopes will be a new electronic masterpiece.
“The new generation of music lovers and club goers have been less genre-specific than ever before. I’m excited now that so many new genres are fusing together,” he says. “And unlike any other time in club music history, people are going into clubs and hearing such a cross-genre of styles.”
“That’s what dubstep has done. It’s regenerated people’s minds to want to work together. It’s created this new bass music where everything is fused together,” he continues. “That’s why for me, it’s a good time to come back in to make music as Adam F, because it’s quite open now.”
Several Big Shot readers have reached out to us about The Prodigy‘s appearance on the cover of the current issue (see the Letters section in the next issue). A few others have weighed in online about the video clip from the rambunctious photo shoot conducted by legendary photographer Mick Rock. Here’s another clip of Mick shooting the venerable UK group.
