A CERTAIN RATIO have shared a new track from their eagerly anticipated new album, ACR Loco. Revitalised by their most successful tour in over two decades, the band returned to the studio to record their first album in 12 years – due for release on Mute on 25 September 2020.
Listen to ‘Yo Yo Gi’ – an irresistible slice of ACR which fuses funk, techno and world music, in the way that only ACR can do – and watch the video, inspired by the Tokyo suburb it was named after from their visit earlier this year: https://youtu.be/pwW0DKsnT-I
The band have also announced details of a very special online event, An Evening with A Certain Ratio, on 25 September. To mark the album release, the band will play their new album in full at the Hope Mill Recording Studio following an exclusive premiere of their 2019 hit-laden gig for the Manchester Warehouse Project’s Haçienda night. The band will also be in conversation, with a Q&A (questions are invited from fans) and to finish, expect one of the band’s infamous ACR Soundsystem DJ sets. To book your ticket, visit: www.livefrom.events/ACR
ACR Loco was recorded by the core line up of Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop and Donald Johnson with contributions from the ACR live line up – Tony Quigley on sax, Denise Johnson on vocals and Matt Steele on keyboards. Additional guests include Sink Ya Teeth’s Maria Uzor and Gemma Cullingford, Gabe Gurnsey (Factory Floor) and Manchester luminaries Mike Joyce (The Smiths) and experimental multi-instrumentalist Eric Random.
“This album is a culmination of everything we’ve ever done,” explains Kerr. The album distils the different directions and styles that have run throughout the band’s career – one that began in the late ‘70s with Factory Records first ever 7” release. “Digging into the past for the boxset [ACR:BOX was released in 2019 on Mute] must have rubbed off on us and influenced the current album,” says Moscrop. “I think it helped spark up our imagination. It allowed us to work in some of the past as we move forward into the future.”
Keen on the joys of collaboration and sharing, it makes sense that adding the ACR touch to other artists via a series of reworks led to their latest album taking shape. Recent reworks of tracks for the likes of Barry Adamson, The Charlatans and Maps saw the band return to the studio to unpick those original tracks. “The reworks were crucial,” says Donald Johnson. “They got us back in the studio and forced a union and a bond. They allowed us to start getting a groove again.” Kerr mirrors this. “We love doing the reworks because it’s just us doing our thing,” he says. “The three of us jamming is really the basis of it all. Once you get that groove there’s no stopping us.”
The new 10-track album is out on CD, cassette and limited edition coloured vinyl. The vinyl will be available in one of four colours: white, blue, red and turquoise, randomly packed, with each colour of varying rarity.
ACR LOCO TRACKLISTING
Friends Around Us
Bouncy Bouncy
Yo Yo Gi
Supafreak
Always In Love
Family
Get A Grip
Berlin
What’s Wrong
Taxi Guy
Listen to ‘Always In Love’: https://youtu.be/8-xSJzgyNAA
An Evening with A Certain Ratio
7pm – ACR live at The Haçienda, The Warehouse Project (2019)
7.45pm – ACR in conversation
8.15pm – ACR perform ACR Loco live
9pm – ACR Soundsystem
10.30pm – ACR:END
Following the unexpected passing last week of Denise Johnson, long-time ACR collaborator and friend, a fund has been set up to assist with funeral costs: https://uk.gofundme.com/f/denise-johnson-funeral