Kevin Martin has revealed details of a new album as The Bug.
Titled Fire, it marks his full-length return to Ninja Tune for the first time since 2016’s collaborative album with Earth, Concrete Desert. It’s his first solo album as The Bug since 2014’s Angels And Devils, which was also released by Ninja Tune.
The 14-track album takes in guest vocal contributions from the likes of Flowdan, Roger Robinson, Moor Mother, Manga Saint Hilare, Irah, Daddy Freddy, Logan, Nazamba and FFSYTHO. You can listen to lead track ‘Clash’, which features Logan, above.
In an extended statement about the album, Martin says: "2020 was the worst dystopian nightmares made real – part of me was panic-stricken, the other part of me was, ‘how am I going to stay sane?’ I’ve got to support four people and it might be YEARS before I play shows – this was at the back of my mind making the album.
"Just to keep calm I got into making solo albums which was meditative, got me back in touch with myself and enabled me to rebuild my studio which kept me working and helped me keep my head straight. It was crucial because I’ve realised through life that what keeps me grounded is music. I used to think I wanted to bury myself in NOW, reality, sensation, information, but as time’s gone on, I’ve realised I want to actually make a parallel world in sound – the studio gave me an escape from just how fucked up the world was last year.
"That feeling of external chaos but really questioning yourself internally is something that all the MCs, in different ways, reflect on Fire. And I feel I’ve grown – making music not just as an egotistical pursuit but to support my family has meant I’ve stopped overthinking things. We KNEW when tracks were finished and loosening my maniacal control over the music, letting it breathe and come together more naturally. That’s something I think you can hear throughout the album."
Fire follows on from the release last week of Martin’s Return To Solaris score under his own name.
Ninja Tune will release Fire on August 27, 2021.
