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SPEZIAL
Manifest EP


SPEZIAL returns with another bold experiment in the art of epic pop songcraft and restless sonic exploration, once again pooling creative minds sharpened in some of the UK’s most influential alternative music.

As the previous KIDS EP series showed, the SPEZIAL project has a whirlpool effect which draws in close collaborators from many different corners. It’s a studio project which revels in the process and seeks out the best tools and the best people to use them.

Whipped up by musical director and relentless energy Shahab Notghi, the Manifest EP finds core SPEZIAL composer and player Stew Jackson (Massive Attack, Phantom Limb) once again lending his multi-instrumental touch to seven new original tracks, backed up by drums from Clive Deamer (Portishead, Radiohead, Roni Size). A new figure in the SPEZIAL story is Joe Jones, the esteemed head engineer from the world famous Rockfield Studios in the Wye Valley, who injected vintage warmth and cosmic textures into the sound with reel-to-reel tape loops, Nagra tape machines, old BBC oscillators and more besides. This bursting, vital mix was then glued together once again by the legendary Ewan Pearson.

In keeping with the crossover between established visionaries and brilliant new artists, on Manifest we’re introduced to the vocal talent of Poppy Mâché, discovered by Notghi and spurred on with a copy of Ableton Live to embrace the SPEZIAL mode of creating on pure instinct and chasing inspiration before the ideas start stalling. Snarling and cooing in equal measure, she sounds old beyond her years across Manifest, weaving a lyrical web that’s relatable and compelling in equal measure.

In keeping with the SPEZIAL tradition, the grandiose vision of the original tracks is cast off into the dancefloor realm through a sharply curated set of remixes. On this occasion, the undisputed baron of UK techno Dave Clarke applies his mighty legacy to a bruising half-tempo electronica version of ‘Bad State’ while Frankfurt legend Roman Flügel creates a seductive strain of noirish electro-pop out of the component parts of ‘Love’. That leaves it to Notghi to don his Paradise Circus cape and lay down a heavy, distorted backbone to ‘Lady’ which channels turn-of-the-millennium cyberpunk as much as the cutting edge of hardware-rooted sound design.

It’s the crackle of energy and restless momentum which brings so many vibrant ideas to the fore on Manifest EP, yet again widening out the SPEZIAL scope while solidifying the core creative team invested in the project, wherever it might lead.