Maribou State have announced their new album ‘Hallucinating Love’ alongside news of a huge gig at Alexandra Palace.
The dance duo will release their third album via Ninja Tune on January 31, where they have so far previewed the record with ‘Otherside‘ featuring vocalist Holly Walker.
The album is also set to feature other guests including Andreya Triana, North Downs and Gaidaa.
Speaking about ‘Hallucinating Love’, Chris Davids said: “When we were writing, we were imagining how great it’d feel to finally be back onstage, bringing people together again.” He added the record was “about being in a dark place, a place of struggle, and then looking forward to bright futures.”
“We’ve always been very hidden in the project, and revelled in the ambiguity and anonymity,” continued Liam Ivory. “But as we’ve gotten older, we’ve wanted to show who we are much more. And naturally it made sense to then point towards British dance music culture because it’s something to be really proud of.”
Alongside the new album, Maribou State will play a special show at London’s Alexandra Palace on February 14, 2025. Tickets will go on general sale October 11 at 10am – snag yours here and see the full tracklist for ‘Hallucinating Love’ below.
The ‘Hallucinating Love’ tracklist is:
1. ‘Blackoak’
2. ‘Otherside’ (feat. Holly Walker)
3. ‘II Remember’
4. ‘All I Need’ (feat. Andreya Triana)
5. ‘Dance On The World’ (feat. North Downs)
6. ‘Bloom’ (feat. Gaidaa)
7. ‘Peace Talk’ (feat. Holly Walker)
8. ‘Passing Clouds’
9. ‘Eko’s’
10. ‘Rolling Stone’
The album follows the announcement of Davids’ rare brain condition, which forced the duo to cancel their live appearances this year to help him recover from surgery. Previously, they were due to appear at Stowaway Festival in Buckinghamshire, Lincolnshire’s Lost Village, and Forwards Bristol.
Taking to social media, Davids wrote: “Over the past few years Liam and I have hidden ourselves away to write our third album, a process which has not been an easy one. In 2022 I was diagnosed with a rare brain condition called Chiari malformation. It had been the cause of a mix of symptoms including; debilitating headaches, insomnia and bad mental health, which have been hugely impacting my life and productivity in the studio.”
“After trying a variety of conservative treatments, I made the difficult decision to undergo brain surgery in November last year,” he continued. “The surgery, for the most part, was successful and the symptoms have now either been resolved or are in remission, however there were multiple complications that have since slowed down my recovery and presented me with new challenges, that five months on, are still ongoing.
“As a result, we’ve had to make the hard decision of pressing pause on the project for the time being. We are therefore very sad to say we are cancelling all our live shows this year and postponing the release of any new music.”
The last music the duo released was 2018’s ‘Kingdom In Colour’, which NME rated four stars: “‘Nervous Tics’, featuring Walker, is perhaps the finest thing the group have ever produced. Featuring an original recording of the band playing a Guzheng, a traditional Chinese stringed instrument in a music store in Beijing, the arrangement is glorious. But it’s heightened by Walker’s pleas for us to reconnect with each other, and place the value of emotional connection over superficial crutches: ‘You control your heartbeat, but you can’t shut down’.
“Take a deep breath, lay back and soak in the technicolour empire Maribou State have crafted on this album – you’ll feel at one with our world for it.”
