U.K. reggae legends Steel Pulse announce today their first new studio album in 15 years, Mass Manipulation, out May 17 via Rootfire Cooperative in partnership with Steel Pulse’s own imprint, Wiseman Doctrine. Lead single “Cry Cry Blood” debuts today. Rolling Stone calls the track “a meditative rocker with deftly placed horns, guitars and strings bubbling up above the song’s thumping groove,” noting that “David Hinds’ lyrics touch on injustice and violence, but end with a revolutionary call as he sings, ‘The whole world’s taking advantage/While we stand aside and look/It was prophesied we’d rise again/Just take a second look.’” Recorded over the course of several years on three continents, the track can now be streamed/shared HERE. The full album can be pre-ordered/pre-saved HERE with deluxe bundles available HERE.
Comprised of 15 new, original songs and two mystic interludes written and arranged by lead vocalist David Hinds and co-produced by bandmates Sidney Mills and David Elecciri, Mass Manipulation marks Steel Pulse’s twelfth studio album—and a timely return to the band’s signature message of social justice and bridging the racial divide through the power of music. While many of the actors and details of the world’s socio-political landscape have changed in the four decades that Steel Pulse has been committed to bettering mankind through music, the band continues to engage controversial topics of human rights on a global scale. “We cannot abandon the future that our ancestors have struggled for,” asserts Hinds.
After a long legacy of major label releases with Universal, Elektra and Island Records, for Mass Manipulation Steel Pulse made a calculated decision to partner with the unique nonprofit label Rootfire Cooperative. Formed in 2016 as a partnership with Ineffable Music Group, Billboard reports, “Rootfire Cooperative is a label services program designed to provide interest-free loans for the production and marketing of recorded music. The artists maintain 100% ownership of their music throughout the entire process.”
The band is set to tour widely throughout Europe and the United States in support of Mass Manipulation. See below for current U.S. tour dates, with many more to be announced.
MASS MANIPULATION TRACK LIST
1. Rize
2. Zem Dem
3. Stop You Coming and Come
4. Thank The Rebels
5. Justice In Jena
6. Human Trafficking
7. Cry Cry Blood
8. Don’t Shoot
9. Trinkets and Beads?
10. No Satan Side
11. Natty
12. Mass Manipulation
13. World Gone Mad
14. Black and White Oppressors
15. The Final Call
16. Higher Love (Rasta Love)
17. Nations Of The World
STEEL PULSE TOUR DATES
March 30—The Warfield—San Francisco, CA
March 31—Fremont Theater—San Luis Obispo, CA
April 2—Mateel Community Center—Redway, CA
April 3—Revolution Hall—Portland, OR
April 5—McDonald Theatre—Eugene, OR
April 6—Knitting Factory—Spokane, WA
April 7—Vogue Theatre—Vancouver, BC
April 9—Showbox SoDo—Seattle, WA
April 11—The Wilma—Missoula, MT
April 12—Pink Garter Theatre—Jackson, WY
April 13—Spring Back to Vail—Vail, CO
April 14—The Depot—Salt Lake City, UT
April 16—Rialto Theatre—Tucson, AZ
April 17—Brooklyn Bowl—Las Vegas, NV
April 19—Belly Up Aspen—Aspen, CO
April 20—Red Rocks Amphitheatre—Morrison, CO
May 2—Belly Up Tavern—Solana Beach, CA
May 3—Beach Life Festival—Redondo Beach, CA
May 24—California Roots Music & Arts Festival—Monterey, CA
July 14—Levitate Music and Arts Festival—Marshfield, MA
August 25—LOCKN’ Festival—Arrington, VA
August 30—Dry Diggings Festival—Placerville, CA
September 1—Dry Diggings Festival—Placerville, CA
