January 2023 saw Orbital release a remix of current single ‘Ringa Ringa (The Old Pandemic Folk Song)’ featuring The Mediaeval Babes by renowned Drum & Bass producer Breakage. Listen HERE.
The single is the second to be taken from Orbital’s new studio album, out on 17 February, before their UK tour begins in Glasgow on 28 March. You can pre-order. It’s the opening track, returning to an Orbital truism that time always becomes a loop: a chugging, cyclical Orbital groove gives way to an unnerving past-meets-present timeslip as goth maenads The Mediaeval Baebes materialise to sing ‘Ring O’Roses’, the innocent nursery rhyme whose roots are in the Black Death.
The first single, “DirtyRat”, a collaboration with Sleaford Mods, was playlisted by BBC6 Music.
Optical Delusion is the latest in a burst of renewed post-pandemic creativity for two brothers who’ve stayed at the top of their game longer than anyone from the post-1988 Class of Acid House. Earlier this year an Orbital thirtieth anniversary package 30 Something – featuring reinterpretations of ‘Chime’, ‘Satan’, ‘Belfast’ and more by fans ranging from Jon Hopkins to ANNA to David Holmes, plus studio versions of Orbital live favourites – reintroduced Paul and Phil Hartnoll to a worldwide fanbase.
Orbital Optical Delusion – Track List:
1. Ringa Ringa (The Old Pandemic Folk Song) (feat. The Mediaeval Baebes)
2. Day One (feat. Dina Ipavic)
3. Are You Alive? (feat. Penelope Isles)
4. You Are The Frequency (feat. The Little Pest)
5. The New Abnormal
6. Home (feat. Anna B Savage)
7. Dirty Rat – With Sleaford Mods
8. Requiem For The Pre Apocalypse
9. What A Surprise (feat. The Little Pest)
10. Moon Princess (feat. Coppe)
ORBITAL UK TOUR 2023
March 28 Glasgow SWG3
March 29 Newcastle NX
March 30 Manchester Albert Hall
March 31 Bristol O2 Academy
April 1 O2 Academy Brixton
April 5 Leeds O2 Academy
April 6 Cambridge Corn Exchange
April 7 Nottingham Rock City
April 8 Brighton Centre
Photography by Mark Wheelwright.
