808 State - Transmission Suite (2019)

‘Transmission Suite’ is the first new 808 State album in 17 years, and it’s pretty good!

Recorded at the same Granada Studios where they performed on TV in 1989, ‘Transmission Suite’ sees Graham Massey and Andy Barker reprise their love of late ‘80s Detroit and Chicago records and merge it with new influences taken from the rhythm-riding styles of the Swing Ting clubnight and Jon K/Kelvin Brown’s long-defunct Eyes Down sessions that are so particular to the Manchester dancefloor make-up.

Fair to say they’ve smartly achieved their aim with a strong collection that seamlessly loops their 1989 selves into their 2019 sound, keeping the meter gauge ticking between hot-steppers such as the almost singeli-esque ’13 13’ and the very Rian Treanor-like twitch and parry of ‘The Ludwig Question’, alongside a haul of rugged electro that recalls the current styles of Massey’s former Sisters of Transistors bandmate Afrodeutsche in the likes of ‘Huron’, ‘Landau’ and ‘Carbonade’.