ALBUM REVIEW: Orbital - Monsters Exist (2018)

The masterful electronic duo Orbital have just released their first album in six years, and it's excellent. Monsters Exist is a dynamic piece of work, balanced between dark, heavy, dreamy, upbeat and euphoric moods, and full of tracks filled with hugely satisfying and proudly weird synth sounds. 

You can listen to the album in full via YouTube below, and if you appreciate the music, go and buy yourself a copy. 

After parting ways in 2004, Phil and Paul Hartnoll got back together a few years later in 2008 for some live shows. They went down so well that they decided to carry on, releasing a flawed but underrated eighth LP in 2012's 'Wonky'. However, in 2014 Orbital announced that they were "hanging up their iconic torch-glasses and parting ways for the final time". Putting the split down to being "driven apart by music’s strange and infamous brother-vs-brother dynamic", the pair concentrated on separate projects for the next few years. Luckily, we hadn't seen the last of Orbital, and we didn't have to wait long until they reunited for a second time in 2017. Working, creating and touring the world together had left the duo in need of some space and time apart, but now the brothers have a pact: whatever happens, Orbital does not stop. They’ve learned to talk and accept each other. As Paul says, “If we were both the same, then it wouldn’t be Orbital.”

After an ecstatically received series of reunion shows in 2017, the techno giants have spent 2018 playing a string of high-profile festival dates and headline shows across Europe. Having rebuilt their partnership as a live force, the new record displays that their future is bright in terms of creativity and continued relevance. Admittedly, the album gets off to a slightly slow start as the opening track does initially seem to venture off its path a bit, yet represents an overall tone-setter which gradually pulls you into the record. Full of sinister industrial keys, the title track is atmospheric, foreboding, dramatic stuff that comes across like film score music for the dancefloor, while atmosphere changes completely for the lively, joyously off-kilter 'Hoo Hoo Ha Ha', brilliantly mindless fun powered by bouncy bass and playful synth-trumpets. It's a major contrast to the following 'The Raid' where the dark mood returns, cranked up several levels to a crushing apocalyptic thud, with ominous dialogue enhancing the terrifying cinematic trip hop.

Things suddenly leap into a new level of clarity with the record's superb centrepiece 'P.H.U.K.', an epic dancefloor classic where pounding roboid beats lock into place with energising retro-futuristic synth bleeps, spelling out some sort of glow-stick-aided sonic SOS cry. The Hartnoll brothers at the very top of their game. They remain at the top on the fascinating 'Tiny Foldable Cities', a stunning piece of music dazzling with its buzzing bass, strange analogue pads and intricate, hypnotic progressions, as close as techno can get to classical music. The album's second half delves into more club-focused tracks with the energetic 'Buried Deep Within' and 'Vision OnE' keeping the energy levels up, delivering mesmerising hooks and fresh, fat beats partnering nicely with quirky retro tones. The pace calms as the slightly Daft Punk-like 'The End Is Nigh' dips into techno-funk, lit up by brightly sizzling pads that beam across its thick beats. It's during this run of five tracks that Monsters Exist focuses itself strongly enough to make maximum impact. Featuring a fascinating, revelatory monologue by professor Brian Cox, the haunting, expansive closer 'There Will Come A Time' works nicely as a music/narrative combo.

It is both a return to form and the beginning of a forward-looking new ear where Britain's greatest electronic act are once again relishing new ideas and sounds. In addition to the main album, the deluxe edition comes with a whole extra CD/record of bonus material which is more than worthy of a listen. The 4/4 beats and acid vibes on 'Kaiju' deliver an old school delight that could set any warehouse party alight, while relaxed acoustic guitar and soft bells make for a moment of short, delicate beauty on 'A Long Way From Home'. With its slightly Aphex Twin-like title, the bleepy 'Analogue Test Oct 16' again matches the past and the future, before 'Fun With The System' provides another "why is this only a bonus track?" moment with its tasty percussion and infectious repetitions, while the dreamy 'Dressing Up In Other People's Clothes' takes things into a more ambient place until its steady big beats and analogue flavours venture into contemporary Kraftwerk territory. Bouncy bass and squealing techno notes counter the accessible drum sounds on 'To Dream Again', another stand out track. The bonus material concludes with an arguably superior instrumental take on 'There Will Comes A Time', where the voiceover isn't there to distract from the wondrous music, and the Kareful remix of 'Tiny Foldable Cities', where the sound is complimented by more effective use of futurist use of retro sounds, particularly the vintage organs.

While Monsters Exist starts and ends without much clarity, everything in between shows the duo hitting with full force. The deluxe edition features a number of excellent tracks that would be more than worthy of inclusion on the main record, and adds to a package that more than makes up for the duo's six year absence. Strange, varied and admirably fresh, Monsters Exist is a great addition to the Orbital catalogue and one of the decade's best electronic albums. 8/10