Twelve years into a career as purveyors of top drawer dance and downtempo music, Andy Cato and Tom Findlay, better known as Groove Armada have been nominated for multiple Grammys, sold over 3 million albums worldwide, and played to 5 million + fans through the years. With massive hits like “Easy”, “Superstylin’”, “I See You Baby”, the downtempo Gorillaz-esque inspired (before Gorillaz even existed) gem, “My Friend” and the massive ragga / Jimi Hendrix inspired “Purple Haze”, you really can not have dance / electronic music today without these electronic legends / veterans.
On the new sixth artist album, Groove Armada continues to push the boundaries artistically. Not many band’s sixth albums can be described as bold, brave, fresh, adventurous or representing a new creative peak, but Groove Armada’s brilliant “Black Light” is all of those things and more.
“We could’ve knocked out an album of ragga-influenced house bangers and a couple of chill out tunes, and that would’ve been a much easier life,” explains Andy. “But we needed a new challenge. Neither of us was interested in just repeating ourselves.” Instead, the music-obsessed duo took inspiration from the new breed of acts they were booking for their award-winning London festival, Lovebox. “Bands like the Friendly Fires, Klaxons, Passion Pit, LCD Soundsystem, Ladyhawke and MGMT,” says Tom. “They’re the ones really leading the charge, making genuinely exciting, dance-informed music. And that sound really pushed us back towards people like Bowie, Gary Numan, New Order, Fleetwood Mac and Roxy Music.”
“Black Light” ranks among their best work to date and sees the masters of reinvention move in some thrilling new directions. Featuring Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music, Nick Littlemore of Empire of the Sun / PNAU, and introducing newcomer SaintSaviour, GA fans and those eager for new music will be blown away when the album drops in Feb 2010.
The first single from the album is the euphoric new single “I Won’t Kneel”, which hits digital retailers this Tuesday November 17, 2009. It’s a blistering sneak preview from their eagerly anticipated new studio album. The track features a scintillating vocal from female singer SaintSaviour, who has been described as a cross between Kate Bush and Anthony & The Johnson’s.
“We’ve worked with a lot of legends,” says Andy Cato talking about their newfound vocalist SaintSaviour. “Now we’ve found one. We’ve done just a couple of ‘Black Light Live’ warm-up gigs with her so far, but already I’m only ever asked one question. Who IS that girl?”
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It is with our utmost pleasure that we welcome Groove Armada to the Om family.
Listen To Groove Armada “I Won’t Kneel”