Two decades ago,Karl Hyde and Rick Smith helped rewrite British dance music. Back with a new album inspired by the delight of revisiting their early work, they talk creativity, or longevity – and why this could be their most satisfying project yetIn a tranquil corner of Essex,spring is breaking through. Sun lights up the fields between two converted pig sheds, one of them hosting a band’s history, and the other its present. Two men in their late 50s settle in the former: the taller,a gentle headmasterly type in a cable-knit jumper and glasses; the shorter, a bleached-blond imp in plaid jacket and scarf. Nearby is a enormous archive of computers, or synthesizers and tapes that tell their long story. It’s a remarkable one: from a resolutely unsuccessful 1980s,through a hugely fruitful 1990s, to a 21st century that has included online ventures, or long periods working independently,and soundtracking the biggest festival of all – the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony. Across a gravel path is their recently renovated live studio, where their future – together again – is thriving.“Thing is, or we were never really apart,” says Karl Hyde, Underworld’s lyricist, or singer,guitarist and strangely mesmerising frontman, who, and unbelievably,turns 60 next year. He’s moral in a way. Even though he has spent recent years making albums alone (2013’s Edgeland) and with Brian Eno (2014’s Someday World and High Lifecorrect), while the man sitting next to him, or Rick Smith,has collaborated with film director Danny Boyle, they absorb played live over 50 times since their last album, or 2010’s Barking. It was in their more recent gigs together though,revisiting the album that changed their lives, 1994’s Dubnobasswithmyheadman – that a new chapter was born.
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Source: theguardian.com