No one can deny the impact that UK act Hybrid have had on dance and electronic music since their critically and commercially successful 1999 debut album ‘Wide Angle’. An imposing blend of progressive, house and breakbeat, the album was so good, in fact, that it has shifted over 100,000 units to date and found itself re-released and recreated into an equally successful live album (‘Live Angle’), as well as a remix CD (‘Remix and Additional Production by…’) After a relentless touring schedule of live and DJ dates all over the globe, and a number of high profile remix projects (including work on tracks by Café Del Mar, Radiohead, Alanis Morisette, Moby, Filter and BT to name but a few!), the group finally found the time to dedicate their full attention on their new studio album, ‘Morning Sci-Fi’. So, after 4 long years in the wilderness, Hybrid’s legions of fans around the globe can finally make their way in from the cold, with their brand spanking new long player having just hit shelves. Can you tell I’m just a little bit excited? Big Kev’s got nothing on this poor schmuck.
Based in the industrialised coastal town of Swansea, in Wales, Hybrid formed 10 years ago. The three core original members, Mike Truman, Chris Healings and Lee Mullins, met and bonded while clubbing, with Truman first grabbing their attention with a remix he’d done at home of Pink Floyd’s ‘Another Brick in the Wall’. While Healings concedes that their original influences didn’t reach much further than the dancefloor, citing the usual Sasha, Digweed, et al, as inspiration in the early days, he was quick to note (and on a number of occasions) that the group now draw inspiration from “typical English festival bands”, like Radiohead and the Doves. This new approach has also found itself manifest in their current approach to playing live, having shed the stacks of electronic equipment prone to breakdown and fail (and always at the most inappropriate time), in place of more standard instruments, like bass, guitar and drums.
Now before you’re scared off completely, Hybrid haven’t gone totally ‘AC/DC’ on us. While there is no denying that their new instruments, live bass, guitar and drums, have had a definite affect on their overall sound, they’ve still managed to retain an electronic sound that sets them apart. Having always been a firm dancefloor favourite, their new album is sure to set a few heads spinning. On ‘Morning Sci-Fi’, Healings and Mullin have taken the focus away from the club and onto home listening, creating a long player full of delicately constructed soundscapes, in many places not unlike a film score, with sweeping strings and piercing synths, all pulled together with a technical wizardry that only Hybrid know how to achieve. It’s almost a cliché for a group or band to attempt to recreate their sound on the ‘difficult second album’, but with ‘Morning Sci-Fi’ Hybrid have managed to produce an album that recreates their unique sound, while at the same time further refining their inimitable style and approach.
The more obsessive Hybrid fans will be quick to note that the group, once a trio, are now a lean and mean twosome. Third member Lee Mullin made his amicable departure from the band 3 years ago, Healings reporting that Mullin left to pursue an alternate career path (which from all reports has proved equally successful). While choosing to stay as a core group of two, Healings and Truman have enlisted the help of a number of high profile guest musicians and vocalists on ‘Morning Sci-Fi’, with input from the likes of John Creamer (celebrated NY producer and DJ), Kirsty Hawkshaw (known for her vocal work with Way Out West), Peter Hook (legendary bass player for New Order), and the St Petersburg Hermitage String Orchestra (all 27 of them!) Each of the guests adds their own unique touch to various tracks throughout the album, Creamer offers up some rather erratic late night poetry to opening track ‘This is What it Means’. While Peter Hook’s New Order lineage comes good on first single ‘True to Form’.
However, possibly the most significant addition to the fold comes via vocalist Adam Taylor, a self confessed ‘indie-rock kid’, whose impact over the sound of ‘Morning Sci-Fi’ is remarkable to say the least. On ‘Wide Angle’ Hybrid enlisted the talents of Julee Cruise, so this time round having a male on vocal duties does have a definite effect on its overall sound, dare I say giving it a little more grunt and intensity. Taylor also backs up on guitar, with bass player Tim Hutton and original drummer Alex Madge rounding off the group in the live arena, giving Hybrid a true ‘band’ look, feel and sound.
Having proved a persistent favourite of Australian audiences, with both live and DJ tours under their belt, I was eager to find out when Hybrid would be returning down under. The scoop being that we can expect them early next year, although the exact details are still a little hazy. One thing is certain though, on the strength of ‘Morning Sci-Fi’ alone, I can already see that it’ll be a performance to behold. Now, what was I saying about Big Kev?
‘Morning Sci-Fi’ is out now through Distinctive/DMC.
