Cabaret Voltaire's first studio album in 26 years to be released on Mute

The LP comes 26 years after the pioneering UK group’s last studio album, The Conversation, came out in 1994. Founding member Richard H Kirk, who revived the project as a solo endeavour with a performance at Berlin Atonal 2014, has developed new Cabaret Voltaire material to play live at select shows in the years since, with “the mission statement from the off was no nostalgia. Normal rules do not apply. Something for the 21st Century. No old material.”

“It took fucking ages,” Kirk says about the album. “One of the problems I’ve found in the past is getting too close to music. So I would leave things and come back to them. I took a bit more time to look at the bigger picture–I didn’t want to just bang something out. It’s like testing a piece of machinery and making sure everything is doing its job properly before putting it out into the world.”

The resulting record touches on techno, dub, house and 1970s Kosmische, the label says, with recording taking place at the Western Works studio in Sheffield used throughout the band’s active years. Kirk’s initial plans to upgrade to a digital setup were interrupted by a computer failure, leading to him using the studio’s original gear. “Making this album reminded me a bit of the old days with Cabaret Voltaire because there wasn’t that much equipment, so you really had to use your imagination,” he says.

Watch the video for “Vasto.”

Tracklist
01. Be Free

02. The Power (Of Their Knowledge)

03. Night Of The Jackal

04. Microscopic Flesh Fragment

05. Papa Nine Zero Delta United

06. Universal Energy

07. Vasto

08. What’s Goin’ On

Mute will release Shadow Of Fear on November 20th, 2020.