A leading figure of 90s British electro, James Lavelle is reactivating his UNKLE machine (whose last album Where Did The Night Fall dates back to 2010) with an ambitious and widely protean album. An opus created in collaboration with an eclectic roster of guests. With The Road: Part 1, the founder of the Mo’Wax label produces a kind of real-fake apocalyptic soundtrack, as dark as Cormac McCarthy’s novel, from which it borrows the title. Compositions are at times slow paced and almost baneful, while at other points much livelier, like on the epic Looking For The Rain, carried by the underground baritone voice of the ever mysterious Mark Lanegan and wrapped in grandiose strings and impressive guitars. Liela Moss from the Duke Spirit, Eska, Mink, Elliott Power and Keaton Henson are among the other collaborators of this strange sound object… When compared with Psyence Fiction − UNKLE’s first album from 1998 produced with Thom Yorke of Radiohead, Mike D of the Beastie Boys, Ian Brown of the Stone Roses, Kool G Rap, Badly Drawn Boy and Richard Ashcroft of the Verve − The Road: Part 1 can appear confusing with its blend of trip hop, progressive rock, electro and film music. Confusing, but also undeniably intriguing. Enough to remind us that James Lavelle is a sound producer like no other… © MD/Qobuz