It’s been a long time since the English post-punk veterans A Certain Ratio have released an album. In recent years, they’ve released a few things surrounding career-spanning retrospectives. One was the single “Dirty Boy,” another was an excellent cover of the Talking Heads cut “Houses In Motion,” from their classic 1980 album Remain In Light. But now, for the first time in 12 years, A Certain Ratio are gearing up to release a new collection of their own new music.
Today, A Certain Ratio have announced a new album called ACR Loco. It’s their first since 2008’s Mind Made Up and the first new collection since they did a round of archival material with last year’s ACR:BOX. It was recorded by the core lineup of Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop, and Donald Johnson, with additional performances from members of ACR’s live band. ACR Loco also features guest appearances from Factory Floor’s Gabe Gurnsey, Maria Uzor and Gemma Cullingford of Sink Ya Teeth, Mike Joyce, and Eric Random. “This album is a culmination of everything we’ve done,” Kerr said in a statement. “Digging into the past for the boxset [ACR:BOX] must have rubbed off on us and influenced the current album,” Moscrop added. “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.”
Along with the announcement, A Certain Ratio shared a new song called “Always In Love.” (As it turns out, their other recent single “Friends Around Us (Part 2)” was actually the first preview of ACR Loco.) It’s an airy sigh of a song, with floaty synths that are more reminiscent of late ’90s/early ’00s electronic music than they are old-school post-punk. Check it out below.
TRACKLIST:
01 “Friends Around Us”
02 “Bouncy Bouncy”
03 “Yo Yo Gi”
04 “Supafreak”
05 “Always in Love”
06 “Family”
07 “Get A Grip”
08 “Berlin”
09 “What’s Wrong”
10 “Taxi Guy”
ACR Loco is out 9/25 via Mute.
