Legendary UK Dance artists Faithless present their first studio album in ten years, ‘All Blessed’, released on BMG on 23 October.
The eagerly awaited ‘All Blessed’ includes the acclaimed recent single ‘Synthesizer’ ft Nathan Ball. Other collaborations across the album’s twelve powerful tracks include Jazzie B, Suli Breaks, Gaika, Caleb Femi, L.S.K., and Damien Jurado.
Faithless said “In this troubled and increasingly violent world, this album reflects what has always been the Faithless manifesto: be conscious, be caring, love yourself so you can love others and understand who you are and where you are. Never polemical but hopefully intelligent and (occasionally!) inspirational – this is music with feeling and words with meaning.”
Inspired by the music of Trevor Horn, Sparks, Jean-Michel Jarre and many a Balearic night out, ‘All Blessed’ is Faithless’s love letter to electronic music and presents them at their very best.
‘All Blessed’ opens with ‘Poetry’, a song about both the challenges inherent in “the daily grind” delivered by spoken word poet Suli Breaks. This is followed by the sublime, enveloping ‘I Need Someone’ featuring Nathan Ball and (the Young Poet Laureate) Caleb Femi. The gothic hip-hop of ‘My Town’ is another vocal switch with the addition of Warp recording artist Gaika.
One of the underlying themes of the whole album is immigration and empathy (or lack of it) as the lyric on ‘Walk in My Shoes’ says, “I’m not foreign, I’m just human” and Gaika presents his own take on this in ‘My Town’.
From sharp new talents to proper legends, the conscious groove of ‘Innadadance’ features the mighty Jazzie B, alongside Suli Breaks.
In contrast, the sundowner vibes of the closing ‘Take Your Time’ features, (alongside Suli Breaks) American singer-songwriter Damien Jurado.
Recent single ‘Synthesizer’ received strong support, including BBC Radio play from Pete Tong, Annie Mac, Jo Whiley, Annie Nightingale, Shaun Keaveny, and Nemone; with DJs supporting the track including Roger Sanchez, Tom Novy, Kryder, and Marco Carola.
In a history that stretches back some 25 years, Faithless have long occupied a pivotal position in the world of British electronica. Marrying elements of house, trip-hop, dub and a songwriting flair into arena-filling explosive, euphoric sounds.
Their accomplishments tell their own story: seven Top 10 singles, six Top 10 albums (three at Number 1), a Mercury Prize nomination for their brilliant sophomore album, 1998’s ‘Sunday 8PM’ and their impressive four times Platinum certified ‘Forever Faithless – The Greatest Hits’ adding to a career total in excess of 15 million worldwide.
Faithless have graced festival stages the world over, including Glastonbury’s famous Pyramid Stage twice and multiple sold out arena runs globally.
It has been ten years since Faithless’ last studio album ‘The Dance’ entered the charts at Number 2. Their 2015 remix album ‘Faithless 2.0’ took them back to the top of the charts yet again with their friends the likes of Avicii, Claptone, Tiesto, Eric Prydz and Armin Van Buuren coming forward to offer fresh perspectives on their fan favourites, ‘We Come 1’, ‘Insomnia’, ‘God is a DJ’ and more. Collaborations have always the hallmark of Faithless’ career, working with Robert Smith of The Cure, Dido and Cat Power to name but a few.