Dub veteran Adrian Sherwood and Bristol bass head Pinch have teamed up for new album Late Night Endless and ahead of its release next week, you can read a track-by-track guide to the album by the pair below, as well as a full album stream above.
Late Night Endless is a joint release between Pinch’s Tectonic label and On-U Sound and sees material from across Sherwood’s career incorporated and reconstructed after the pair got together at Sherwood’s Ramsgate studio. The album features vocal samples from Congo Natty, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Prince Far I and more, and follows on from previous collaborative singles ‘Bring Me Weed’ and ‘Music Killer’. You can pre-order Late Night Endless now, via Bleep, iTunes and Amazon ahead of its release on Monday, with their upcoming dates at the foot of the piece.
‘Shadowrun’
Pinch: The rhythm on this track is the closest to the newer sound of Tectonic, but when combined with Adrian’s input it occupies its own space and environment. I think it works well as an opener, as it’s covering new ground for both of us. It’s a nod to the future and an original sound. It’s also ominous and has an air of potential mystery.
Adrian: It’s different to the other tracks on the album and invites a sense of "what’s next?"
‘Music Killer Dub’
Adrian: We originally did this as a 12", but reworked it for the album. We didn’t want to overload the album with song-based tracks or vocals, so this is a dub, but also with some of the original hook put back in. It’s tougher than the vinyl version and was one of the last tracks we cut. It features a wide range of vocal samples – from Congo Ashanti Roy, Mikey Dread, Congo Natty, Lee Perry and Prince Far I.
‘Gimme Some More (Tight Like That)’
Pinch: For me this is the essence of the On-U Sound, with Adrian crashing in unrelated samples, but making them relate to each other.
Adrian: It’s an energetic track – we placed it at this point in the album to energise the listener as they progress on the journey.
‘Bucketman’
Adrian: A ganja reference as in smoking a bucket bong – clichéd old hippy shit! Daddy Freddy came in to the studio and did the huge "MARRRRIJUANA" chant.
Pinch: I like the punky vibe – the distortion and the attitude.
‘Wild Birds’
Pinch: This is the point where we decided to drop it right back down in terms of pace and intensity. It’s got a late night vibe. It’s my personal favourite. I like how the spoken word vocals ride the trippy, dubwise riddim. I used an earlier incarnation of this to open my DJ sets for about a year. Literally around thirty gigs. It wiped the slate clean, bringing the mood back down, so I could build it up again.
Adrian: Yeah – the first four tracks have an intense, tough element, like an attack, but ‘Wild Birds’ is like pressing the reset button. It’s meditative.
Pinch: We love the oddness of this track and we really enjoy playing it live.
‘Stand Strong’
Pinch: I recorded Temi ‘Queen’ Odeyale’s vocals in Lagos – it’s sung in Yoruba.
Adrian: This has an unusual rhythm and frequencies. It took a long time to finish and to be honest we were struggling with it. Then Doug Wimbush stepped in and re-recorded the bass part. He helped the frequencies gel, gave the track a swing and generally nice it up.
‘Precinct Of Sound’
Pinch: This was one of the original dubplates. It’s a version of my track ‘Swish’ which came out on Deep Medi a few years back. Adrian dubbed it and then added Andy Fairley’s vocals, which were originally just plonked on top of the track. Then we re-worked it in more detail and cut up the vocals.
Adrian: Andy Fairley was a great poet, member of the band Fish Food and fan of Russian literature from Bristol, who sadly died young.
Pinch: It’s the most dubstep track on the album and it has that unhinged, dementing element – like Bucketman.
‘Different Eyes’
Pinch: I started this at Tectonic studio and it features my girlfriend Lizzie on backing vocals. The lead vocal chant is by Ghetto Priest. We made many versions of this track, but we opted for this one on the album. It’s got an old school Bristol, Smith & Mighty vibe.
‘Africa 138’
Adrian: A whole different use of flavours. It’s trancey and has an African element in the chants and percussion.
Pinch: Tribal, mystical, spooky, voodoo and meditative. Witchdoctor music!
‘Run Them Away’
Adrian: This is the first track we started and the last track we finished. We recorded the rhythm, then rebuilt it. The wailing backing vocal is by Bernard Fowler – a vocal coach who sings in Tackhead and does lead backing vocals for the Rolling Stones. The lyrics are on a more serious note and are politically relevant. We wanted to end the album with this track.
FEB
Wed 11 – Music Hall, Ramsgate
Thu 12 – Marble Factory, Bristol
Fri 13 – Rough Trade East in-store, London
MARCH
Wed 18 – Barbican, London w/ Squarepusher
