As we previously reported, at Quietus Towers we've been given a stern booting by the announcement that The Bug is set to return with a new label, the self-explanatory Acid Ragga, and a new album, Angels & Devils. The information we already have is that the label will release a series of 7"s, culminating in the album, and its first single will feature contributions from Daddy Freddy and Inga Copeland. The album itself is set to feature appearances from a wide array of guests, including Death Grips, Gonjasufi, JK Flesh, The Spaceape, Flowdan, Warrior Queen and, more surprisingly, Grouper.

"So much of this is just fucking miraculous, you know, and odd, and bizarre, when I contact people," said Martin to FACT's Tom Lea this week about the new project. "Like when I contacted Grouper, I was stunned that she’d even heard of me, and doubly stunned when she told me she’d been playing her mum ‘Skeng’ about two weeks before."

In the interview he reveals some more information about the label and its aesthetic. For the first release he's commissioned artwork from Zeke Clough (best known for his creepy-as-hell artwork for Skull Disco and Shackleton's Woe To The Septic Heart label), the sleeve will use a range of fluorescent and metallic colours, and the vinyl will be coloured.

He also reveals more about the concept behind the label. It will be almost exclusively an output for his own productions, though he's found kindred spirits in Mark Pritchard and Stereotyp, and he described the idea of Acid Ragga as "very vibey. It’s very energised, and about me getting my hands on some analogue gear and not getting stuck in an computer all day. Get on hands on a 303, on effects, and just twist shit up. The first single alone I think I did 45 mixes of before I chose the one I was happy with. But conceptually, it’s maximum energy, trying to chase a sound that’s in your head."

With regard to the new album, he explains that he needed some time off from The Bug after London Zoo in order to fully realise King Midas Sound, and also to figure out where next to go with his solo project. "“My first inclination was to say ‘fuck dubstep’, and do something totally different with Bug," he said, "but then I realised that a lot of the artists that I admire most have a real consistency. And I feel that with London Zoo, I’d marked my sound. And it was a sound that in places I was proud of. So rather than jack that simply to be belligerent and antagonistic and volatile, it was more honest to continue that, and pull the extremes even further. The [forthcoming] Angels & Devils album, it’s going to be an extension of London Zoo in both directions really. At the same time, I didn’t want to come with like a 140bpm head-wrecker as my first release after London Zoo, because it’s been nearly four years. I wanted to come with something fresher, and come with something that I was excited by."

The full interview's well worth a read, shedding some light on Kevin Martin's busy working schedule, ambitious plans and reportedly perfectionist approach. You can read it here.