The Bug announces first solo instrumental album ‘Machine’

The Bug is set to release a new album titled 'Machine' via Relapse Records on October 4.

Alongside the announce, the renowned UK electronic producer has shared two singles, ‘Buried (Your Life is Short)’ and ‘Bodied (Send For the Hearse)’.

The 12-track LP – which marks Kevin Richard Martin’s first solo instrumental record under his The Bug alias – will be available in two vinyl versions, with different artwork for each.

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With names like ‘Annihilated (Force of Gravity)’ and ‘Departed (Left The Body Behind)’, the songs are characterised by immense crushing sounds and heavy sub-bass. They build on Martin’s signature chaotic ambient experimentations, in which he fuses the worlds of dubstep, techno, electro, dancehall and bashment with industrial sounds.

Speaking on the project himself, The Bug describes the tracks as “ice cold and dystopian”, designed to celebrate “atmospheric pressure, and the joy of full body assaults, via oversized sound systems in undersized club rooms.”

The songs first appeared in a series of five EPs released over a period between 2023 and 2024 via the artist’s own PRESSURE label on Bandcamp. ‘Machine’ represents a completion of the artist’s original plan to eventually collate all the individual EPs into a longer, fully-formed album.

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With a career starting as early as the ‘90s, The Bug has become widely known for his wild, machine-like productions that often delve into themes of existence, tyranny, protest and destruction. Along the way, he has worked with GRAMMY Award-winning grime MC Flowdan (releasing the dubstep anthem ‘Skeng’), as well as forming the spoken word trio King Midas Sound.

The artist linking up with Relapse Records follows the release of a collaborative album with ambient artist KMRU, issued via Phantom Limb in June.

Check out ‘Buried (Your Life is Short)’ and ‘Bodied (Send For the Hearse)’, alongside the artwork and tracklist, below.

Pre-order 'Machine' here.

Meena Sears is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow her on Instagram

Tracklist:
1. Annihilated (Force of Gravity)
2. Shafted (Laws of Attraction/Repulsion)
3. Sickness (Slowly Dying)
4. Vertical (Never See You Again)
5. Floored (Point of Impact)
6. Drop (Machine Sex)
7. Hypnotised (F-cked up)
8. Inhuman (Let Machines Do The Talking)
9. Departed (Left The Body Behind)
10. Buried (Your Life is Short)
11. Bodied (Send For the Hearse)
12. Exit (Wasteman)