808 State

“We’re trying to make a future for other people to immerse themselves in,” says Graham Massey. “It feels a bit like an imaginary landscape. That’s always been a big part of 808 State, when you go back through the music: these kind of landscapes of futurism.” 808 State made their return with Transmission Suite, a record that remains true to the forward-thinking ethos of this singular band, but also takes them somewhere new. More stripped-back and conscious of space than the music that first made their name in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, it is also suffused with a sense of history: specifically, that of their home city of Manchester, and the ghosts that swirl around it. Its tracks reflect the fact that electronic music also has a rich backstory, but 808 State being 808 State, they also point ahead. Put simply, Transmission Suite – which is their seventh album - evokes the past, present and future, which is not something you can say about many records.