Sandwell District – Karl O’Connor [Regis] and David Sumner [Function] – have shared a new track from their forthcoming album, End Beginnings – out on March 28 via The Point of Departure.
The new album sees O’Connor and Sumner return to Sandwell District with an out of the blue follow up to their era-defining 2010 album, Feed-Forward. End Beginnings is a majestic coming together of cinematic techno and mind-bending dancefloor dynamism. It has its roots in underground techno – long-time connoisseurs will recognise Motor City impulses and 80s European industrial electro, while recent disciples will appreciate the post-Berghain rush – but it’s also a considered home listening experience.
The album marries Drexciya’s idea of techno being an act of seditionary innovation with a sense of unbridled fun, an imperative that means a lot to O’Connor. “Having a good time is pretty much why you get into it in the first place,” he explains. “And it is fun. I think we feel a lot more fortunate now, especially with what happened with Juan. We’re grateful.”
End Beginnings is also a moving requiem to a fallen soldier – Juan Mendez [Silent Servant]. Soon after the box set reissue of their debut album, at the beginning of 2024, Mendez tragically died. Mendez’s stunning artwork and visuals were always a central pillar of Sandwell District and he was working on a piece of art entitled ‘End Beginnings’ that was mooted to be the album cover. That work was never finished, but O’Connor and Sumner took the title to honour their friend’s contribution.
The initial catalyst for Sandwell District’s reunion was unexpected. Over a decade since Sandwell District’s last acrimonious blow out, O’Connor explains, “I struck up a really close friendship with Mark Lanegan before he died. Which was weird. Mark Lanegan – king of grunge, friend of Kurt Cobain – he told me to keep going, to revisit Sandwell District.”
It took time for relations to thaw, “You have to decentralise the ego for the good of the project,” O’Connor explains, and, with the lessons of their fractious relationship of the past learned, O’Connor and Sumner worked on the album remotely – in London and Berlin and brought in Simon Shreeve, Mika Hallbäck (Rivet), Seth Horvitz (Rrose) and Sarah Kranz (Sarah Wreath) to add to the collaborative spirit the collective has always benefited from.
Sandwell District ‘End Beginnings’
Tracklist
01 Dreaming
02 Self-Initiate
03 Will You Be Safe?
04 Restless
05 Least Travelled
06 Citrinitas Acid
07 Hidden
08 The Silent Servant
Preorder here
Sandwell District Live Dates
March 29 – Barcelona (ES), Nitsa
April 03 – Birmingham (UK), Tunnel
April 25 – Malmö (SE), Intonal Festival
May 16 – San Francisco (US), Public Works
June 06 – Malta (MT), Earth Garden Festival
June 07 – Barcelona (ES), Primavera Festival
July 11 – Gijon (ES), Lanna
July 25 – Franklin, MN (US), The Great Beyond Festival
Photo Credit Steve Gullick
Welcome back, Sandwell District, we have missed you. Your time is now…
Stay tuned to the Techno Trip Tracks of the Week selection and Listen to Sandwell District’s new music first
Follow
https://www.instagram.com/sandwell_district_official/
https://store.pias.com/
