Massive Attack Announce New Single, ‘Dear Friend’
Massive Attack's long lead-up to their next release continues with the impending arrival of the group's next single, "Dear Friend."
The new track is initially only for sale as a limited 12" release at their show at Clifton Downes in Bristol, U.K. on Sept. 3, with only 300 copies pressed in all — but according to the press release announcing the song's arrival, a more traditional rollout via digital and physical channels will be coming "soon."
As previously reported, "Dear Friend" was one of several new songs previewed through Massive Attack's "sensory music" app, dubbed Fantom. Alongside that snippet, the group debuted bits of the tracks "Come Near Me" and "The Spoils," all of which are presumably earmarked for the upcoming full-length follow-up to 2010's Heligoland.
The "Dear Friend" announcement arrives less than a year after the release of Massive Attack's most recent release, the Ritual Spirit EP, which was followed by videos for "Voodoo in My Blood" and the title track. Initial plans reportedly called for another EP to follow this year; it's unclear as to whether the group still intends to follow through, or has shifted its focus to a full-length effort.
Massive Attack's new material features the return of rapper Tricky, who exited the lineup in 1995. "It’s always going to be slightly odd working with someone after so much time has passed," co-founder Robert Del Naja told the Guardian earlier this year. "But after half a day, you revert to type, all the veneer’s stripped, all the posturing’s gone and you’re just what you were back then, 20 years ago, whether you like it or not. You just realize: ‘Oh, I haven’t f---ing changed at all, I’ve got all the same issues, he knows how to push my buttons, I know how to push his.’ But that’s the nature of it. It’s kind of funny and difficult at the same time."