Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct

[dubman]

Yeah, I also don’t get the pre-disappointment here. Coming up with your alternate reality for it already is a bit embarrassing tbh. I like the cover more than I did for drift, and the short tracks suggest (to me anyway) more of a big bouquet rather than some epic journey (though it could still be that!). I hope strawberry hotel the track is here under different name(s), but otherwise I’m hyped.

[Dirty0900]

Think the album was finished in May from instagram. Glad it’s a short announcement until release.

[evwhitton16]

Originally Posted by ultradave

I think the only thing that will get me excited about this LP is if the track we all heard titled as Strawberry Hotel be on the album. I have no issue if they gave it another title, but the options are slim considering the bulk of the track times are rather short.

tbh I agree but given that Gene Pool live was 10 min and here it's nine, the OG version of SH may well be Sweet Lands Experience (4:44) or more likely (Lewis In Pomona) 5:38 or Hilo Sky (5:04) given it's runtime. plus, even live it sounded basically finished and correct me if I'm wrong but they seem to very rarely bin finished tracks.

[ultradave]

Originally Posted by darmok

I don't know about you, but I haven't heard the whole album yet. Hard to say it's a letdown until then, especially when they say "don't shuffle".

Sorry, what I meant was the radio silence on when and if an LP would drop. I had just decided to stop in on the forums to see if any news came up, but nothing solid and then I wake up to an email to pre-order the new album. It didn't leave me with much anticipation like in the past. New album excitement was missed. As far as the music goes, I'm always excited to get new UW tracks regardless of style and length. I absolutely love Denver Luna (Acapella) and I am glad to see that both versions of DL will be on the new album and the "don't shuffle" comment gives me something to look forward to. Don't read too much into my rants. I've been a huge UW fan since 96 and after all these years I never skip Born Slippy.NUXX!!!

[ultradave]

Interestingly, I received an email from Bandcamp that targets the UW Store for the album pre-order. Not sure if this means they will have some involvement with Bandcamp. Maybe a digital copy provided with the album... question mark.

[StrangeLastName]

If you've purchased from them on Bandcamp, it basically just signs you up for their mailing list, it doesn't necessarily mean they'll have any Bandcamp releases.

I see a few people mentioning a deluxe edition. Is there a reason we're assuming this will happen, or have their been any hints on that? I thought that the Drift box set was announced at the same time as the "regular" versions.

[TheBang]

Originally Posted by StrangeLastName

I see a few people mentioning a deluxe edition. Is there a reason we're assuming this will happen, or have their been any hints on that? I thought that the Drift box set was announced at the same time as the "regular" versions.

Yeah, I don't think there will be a deluxe edition. All the past ones that have had "bigger" versions (OwB, Barking, BBWFASF, Drift) were all announced at the same time as the regular editions. If they announce a deluxe edition later (in the coming weeks and days), everyone will complain that they already ordered the "standard" edition. It's possible that there could be an "expanded" edition in 6 months or a year, like some artists put out to extended the album lifecycle. But that doesn't really seem like Underworld's style. I think the album is their statement, and that's it.

Based on preliminary information, It doesn't even look like Japan is getting a bonus track this time around.

[Cadevil]

Maybe disappointment is the wrong word, but I even found the email announcement a bit lacking compared to previous album announcements. They've always given some depth or context, and this one was just a date and pre-order link...a bit cold really.

I'm not sure who is handling the marketing/PR right now but it's just a bit weird. Had to poke around on the shop website to get a proper description that would add to the excitement (see below). If this was written already, why not include it in the announcement? It all just lands really flat, for a band that has never been that way. In the past, these announcements always have been about sharing R & K's excitement about what they've created...not feeling it here...yet.

From the LP description:
Welcome to Strawberry Hotel.

Here, gleaming tensile techno forms clean, straight lines while scratchy acoustic guitars scuff up edges to produce ghostly audio. Poetry is snatched from the overhead, removed from the overheard; words borrowed from the ether are spun into dizzying new shapes, sometimes reappearing in new settings, twisted back to front, side to side. Each track a very different room - some soundtracked by little more than metronomic kick drum and robotic voice, others deep in layer upon layer of melody and euphoric noise - and each room unmistakably, uniquely Underworld. The only advice from Underworld?s Rick Smith and Karl Hyde upon entering: ?Please don?t shuffle.?

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I did find it funny to get that email saying "we wanted you to hear it from us first" when the tracklisting was posted on streaming services days prior

I agree their marketing has always been bad/weird/confusing, I've gotten the sense that they haven't really wanted to make albums for a while, but do it anyway because that's what sells, and they haven't really figured out how exactly they *do* want to release their music. fwiw I think this thought process does coorelate to the ways their music has gotten fairly adventerous from Drift on, I suspect this album will have a few surprises on it

[Dirty0900]

On the CD, there’s an image of the balloon head from A Hundred Days Off and a Cuddly Bunny.

I hope this isn’t a cryptic way of telling us that things are ending.