Ever the pioneers, Massive Attack have previewed new music in their own bespoke iPhone app, Fantom. The app was developed by a team that includes group member Robert del Naja and is described as “a sensory music player that remixes and reforms songs uniquely using a variety of environmental variables including location, movement, time of day, heartbeat and the integral moving image camera”.
Fantom contains snippets of four new Massive Attack tracks (Dead Editors, Ritual Spirit, Voodoo in My Blood and Take It There) that users can “remix” in real-time as they see fit. One of the new tracks, Voodoo in My Blood, is a collaboration with Scottish hip-hop group Young Fathers. Meanwhile, Take It There is co-credited to “Thaws”, which as Pitchfork note, suggests input from Adrian “Tricky” Thaws, who last worked with Massive Attack on their 1994 album Protection.
At present, Fantom is available as a free download on iPhone, but it’s not known whether an Android version will follow shortly. Massive Attack began a 12-date tour of the UK and Ireland in Dublin on Tuesday night and included all four new songs in their setlist. The group will next take to the stage at Glasgow’s O2 Academy tonight.
Credits
Text Nick Levine
Photography via