Machinedrum to Release 11th Album

Machinedrum (a.k.a Travis Stewart) will release a new album on Ninja Tune.

Stewart’s journey to making 3FOR82 began, fittingly, on March 4 last year. For his 41st birthday, he ventured out to Joshua Tree National Park, California, to seek clarity and inspiration for a new album.

“I’ve been to Joshua Tree many times and I’ve always felt a great sense of clarity every time I visit,” he explains, “and I knew that I should, at some point in my life, go out there to work on something creatively.”

In the quiet vastness of Joshua Tree, Stewart combed through old hard-drives full of his late-’90s beats: many of them were made on Impulse Tracker, a rough freeware programme that lay untouched for the better part of a quarter-century.

“That’s really where I cut my teeth in electronic music-making,” he remembers.

Although he’s been a committed Ableton Live user for years, “there’s been a yearning for me to tap back into that older self; the software is super limiting, and there’s a unique creativity that comes out of limitations.”

After finding a DOS emulator that would run Impulse Tracker, he recorded himself playing and riffing off these beats to build 3FOR82.

We’re told to expect 12 high-intensity, ruminative tracks that “thread the needle between his past, present and future selves.”

The album builds on the vocalist-centric, genre-blending songwriting of the last Machinedrum album, 2020’s A View Of U.

Between drum & bass, hip-hop, jazz, R&B and juke, Stewart weaves in a crew of collaborators. Jesse Boykins III, the album’s co-executive producer, leads with various contributions. Then, Tinashe, KUČKA, Duckwrth, AKTHESAVIOR, Mick Jenkins, Ezri, Tanerélle, Deniro Farrar, Topaz Jones, deem spencer, aja monet, ROZET, Will Johnson, and Ian Maciak all feature.

Tracklisting

01. ORACLE feat. aja monet
02. RESPEK feat. Topaz Jones & Ezri
03. WEARY feat. Mick Jenkins & Jesse Boykins III
04. H0N3Y
05. HEAL feat. AKTHESAVIOR & Deniro Farrar
06. ILIKEU feat. Duckwrth
07. U_WANT feat. KUČKA
08. BLESSD feat. deem Spencer
09. RISE feat. ROZET
10. ZOOM feat. Tinashe
11. KILL_U feat. Tanerélle
12. GODOWN feat. Jesse Boykins III

3FOR82 LP is scheduled for May 24 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “ZOOM” feat. Tinashe in full via the player below and pre-order here.

Photo: James King

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