U.K. reggae legends Steel Pulse debut today the video for “Cry Cry Blood,” the lead single from 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. Stream/share the video HERE and the audio HERE. The full album can be pre-ordered/pre-saved HERE with deluxe bundles available HERE.
Of the video, PopMatters proclaims that “the power of Hinds’ conviction is clear in the strength of his voice. That Steel Pulse sets most of the video at the site once known as Pinnacle only enhances the sense of history that informs Hinds’ identity as expressed in ‘Cry Cry Blood.’ With bold, solid rhythms and an unwavering affinity for melody and humanity, Steel Pulse looks to a peaceful future…” 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, Mass Manipulation is 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. It 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 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
May 23—Fox Theater—Bakersfield, CA
May 24—California Roots Music & Arts Festival—Monterey, CA
May 26––Bearded Theory Festival––Derbyshire, United Kingdom
June 14––Ponte Vedra Concert Hall––Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
June 15––Cocoa Riverfront Park––Cocoa, FL
June 16––Jannus Live––St. Petersburg, FL
June 19––The Ranch––Ft. Myers, FL
June 20––Bandshell Park Miami Beach––Miami Beach, FL
June 21––Abacoa Amphitheater––Jupiter, FL
June 22––Vivo Beach Club––Caroline, PR
June 28––Metropolis––Montreal, Canada
July 5––Marin County Fair––San Rafael, CA
July 7––High Sierra Music Festival––Quincy, CA
July 10––The Freeman Stage––Selbyville, DE
July 14—Levitate Music and Arts Festival—Marshfield, MA
July 27––Reggae on the Way––Tacoma, WA
August 17––Reggae on the Mountain––Calabasas, CA
August 25—LOCKN’ Festival—Arrington, VA
August 28––Chautauqua Auditorium––Boulder, CO
August 30—Del Mar Racetrack—San Diego, CA
September 1—Dry Diggings Festival—Placerville, CA
September 22––See Here Now Fest––Asbury Park, NJ
September 4––MECU Pavillion––Baltimore, MD*
September 6––Coney Island Amphitheater––Brooklyn, NY*
September 13––White Oak Amphitheater––Greensboro, NC*
September 18––Hollywood Casino Amphitheater––Tinley Park, IL*
September 20––Osage Casino––Tulsa, OK*
*with UB40, Shaggy
