A Certain Ratio - The Joy of Sextet (2026)

A CERTAIN RATIO celebrate two anniversaries this year: 45 years since they went into Revolution Studios in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport to record Sextet (1982) and 40 years since the release of the 1986 album Force – and mark the occasion with companion releases for each of the albums out on 28 August, and an anniversary tour in October.

The band have put together two very different albums to accompany their anniversaries.

Sextet was ACR’s third studio album and showed a whole new side to the band. It was described on release as “… an album of the present, killing the present and agreeably ignoring the future” by Sounds and more recently reappraised by Pitchfork who said it “still sounds like no other record”. The line-up for Sextet features Martha “Tilly” Tilson, who the band had met in New York while they were recording To Each…Tilly’s lyrics, Jez Kerr explains, “reflect her take on life in Manchester, “walk along the waterline, see the ships passing by, grey skies, still water”.

This singular release - which spent 11 weeks in the UK Independent Chart, reaching the #1 slot - has been given a brand-new mix by long-time collaborator Andy Meecham (The Emperor Machine) from the original album session tapes. Talking about the process, Meecham explains, “Taking on an epic album like this involved pushing up the faders again from the original 1981 2”multitracks adding some new dynamics while recapturing the sound of 1981 without losing the original raw energy and feel.”