international news _ 6th January, 2006
Massive New Album On the Way
Despite now being represented by a lone member Bristol's trip-hop pioneers, Massive Attack have a very hectic year ahead of them. With the absence of founding member Andrew Vowles and also the current sabbatical of Daddy G, Robert Del Naja, aka 3-D, will be relying on collaborations with old friends to bring out a best of CD in March of 2006 and a new album in February the following year.
Neil Davidge, who worked with the group on their troubled album Mezzanine and the soundtrack to Batman Forever, will once again be lending a helping hand in the production department on the long awaited fifth album which is to be called Weather Underground.
More than a year before its release and already seven of the planned fifteen tracks have been recorded with the band frantically flying back and forth between Bristol and New York to lay down the new material which will include collaborations with reggae great Horace Andy and Beth Orton who also releases on Virgin Records.
The best of double CD set, known as Collected, has been scheduled for a March 27 release and will be preceded by a soulful new single on the 13th of March, Live With Me, which features childhood friend of Curtis Mayfield, Terry Callier. The first of the two CDs will feature tracks selected by Massive Attack themselves while the second CD will consist of rare and reworked songs, promo videos and even some newly recorded material.
The news of these releases will be welcomed by fans who have heard little from the band since their work on Jet Li's 2005 Unleashed. It may also come as a surprise to those who have followed the group's worrying past concerning intra-band relationships. (Nick Lawrence)
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