Pitchfork

Call the new one from the Matthew Herbert Big Band "phoned in," and, well, you'd be right. After all, the previously mentioned There's Me and There's You includes not one, but at least two tracks featuring sounds relayed by fans via telephone. But you know what? That's probably the least interesting thing on it.

When There's Me and There's You arrives on October 28 via !K7 (not Herbert's own Accidental imprint, as previously reported), audiophiles should keep their ears peeled for samples of "a match being struck in the Houses of Parliament, one of a 100 nails being hammered into a coffin, [and] vocals recorded at a Kent landfill site," as well as "100 credit cards being cut up," "the incubator system which kept Herbert's prematurely born son alive," and, wait for it..."the sound of 70 condoms being scraped along the floor of the British Museum."

What, Matthew, no cow uterus?

But wait, that's not all! This latest high-concept offering from Herbert is also, yes, a protest record. The meticulous producer originally wanted to create There's Me entirely from sounds recorded in the British Houses of Parliament, but his requests to work there were denied. Herbert didn't get mad, though; he got creative.

As he tells it in a press release, "That's what [There's Me track] 'Waiting' is about. What outraged me was they seemed more worried that this would bring the House into disrepute than the fact that they went into an illegal war with our money, and without our permission. That's why the song became about murder. On the other hand, I was thrilled that they felt threatened by a piece of music. It meant that the residual power to challenge political hierarchies through creative subversion was still present."

Sounds like Rage Against the Machine ought to take a few cues from this guy.

There's Me also marks Herbert's first recorded collaboration with London vocalist Eska, whom he calls "the beating heart of the record."

Scope the new album's politically-charged cover art and tracklist below, and keep an eye out for the Matthew Herbert Big Band, as they just might be headed to a European city near you in the coming weeks.



There's Me and There's You:

01 The Story
02 Pontificate
03 Waiting
04 The Yesness
05 Battery
06 Regina
07 The Rich Man's Prayer
08 Breathe
09 Knowing
10 Nonsound
11 One Life
12 Just Swing

The Matthew Herbert Big Band:

08-07 Cologne, Germany - Stadtgarten
08-28 London, England - Roundhouse
09-10 Paris, France - Cité de la Musique
10-01 Brussels, Belgium - Ancienne Belgique