Orbital have released their new acid house-inspired track Smiley ahead of a run of UK festival dates over the late summer.
Orbital will perform at Stockport’s Moovin Festival in late August, as well as performing sets at Stowaway Festival and Solfest.
The new single follows the released of their latest album 30 Something. It is accompanied by an animated video which sees the Orbital brothers (Paul and Phil Hartnoll) reunited with award-winning video/film director Luke Losey who co-directed their 1998 single The Box and 1999 single Style.
Smiley is inspired by Orbital’s origins as part of the late 80s rave scene and also references the iconic Smiley Face pop culture symbol that is officially 50 years old this year. Trademarked by French journalist Franklin Loufrani in 1972, the image was famously adopted as a symbol of Acid House. The track samples the infamous A Trip Round Acid House edition of World In Action, the ITV documentary which introduced millions in Middle England to what their kids were getting up to at the weekend and which includes an interview with a 20 year old Paul Hartnoll, describing how he was beaten up by police while attending a house party in Sevenoaks.
“We wanted to do something that represented where our heads are at now but wearing the clothes from back when we started”, explains Paul Hartnoll. “So to chronicle thirty years of Orbital you’ve got this track that chronicles the very start of dance music in Sevenoaks. It’s our origin story.”
“And to make the very important point that, in civil rights terms, basically we all got beaten up by the police for having a party, adds Phil. “Could never happen now, everyone would film it on their phones. Instant police brutality case.”
When do Orbital perform at Moovin Festival?
Orbital perform at Mooving Festival on 27 August 2022. The Stockport festival dates is one of three dates they have lined up:
19 August – Stowe, Stowaway Festival
27 August – Stockport, Moovin Festival
28 August – Cumbria, Solfest
image of Orbital courtesy Kenny McCracken
