When Deedar decided to call it a day, ADF invited two MCs (Aktar and Spex), graduates of the same music school as them, to join them on their latest adventure: the recording of their fourth album Enemy of the Enemy (2003). Heavily influenced by world events - the opening of Europe’s borders and September 11 – the album also portrays the production skills of one of the pioneers of British dub, Adrian Sherwood, boss of the On-U Sound label. The album also featured an unexpected guest artist, Sinead O’Connor, who tackles the issue of domestic violence on the track 1,000 Mirrors. Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien cut in on the sessions and the two groups teamed up for a landmark European tour. ADF also joined French activist José Bové at an anti-globalisation rally in the Larzac region of southern France, in August 2003. Keep Banging on the Walls, their highly-charged live performance, was released in the heat of the moment as a CD and a DVD.
Reluctant to stick to the distinctive sound that had made their name, ADF chose to reinvent itself by inviting a number of new members to join the team. Ghetto Priest, an artist on the On-U Sound label, was the first to arrive on the scene, infusing the tracks on Tank with a whole new flavour. Priest’s steady flow recalls the great Jamaican vocalist Horace Andy, a stark contrast with the more hip-hop inclined Spex. By hooking up with Ben Watkins (composer of the soundtracks for the Matrix trilogy and member of Juno Reactor) and Adam Wren (Leftfield’s sound engineer), ADF has steered a more electronic course as revealed by the irresistible dance rhythm of the first track, Fly Over. It sums up ADF’s calling to make music that gets the mind and body moving by raising awareness on the dance floor.
As the title suggests, Tank is an album created in a world at war. Oil makes a stark reference to the economic interests at stake for the countries involved, Take Back the Power is an attack on the abuse of power by dictators, Warring Dohl focuses on the situation in Pakistan and Bangladesh, while The Round Up sounds a particularly grim warning: “When you hear the marching drum/You know your time soon come”. As in their previous albums, the lyrics are shot through with meaning, while the album’s enormous energy prevents it from sliding into dogma. ADF remains first and foremost a musical laboratory overflowing with ideas, drawing on sophisticated programming, deep bass sounds and searing riffs to create its one-of-a-kind kick. The collective reveals once more that it is open to new sounds: Mad Mike from the Detroit Underground Resistance (founded with Jeff Mills), another great name in the realm of integrity, collaborated on Powerlines while Tomorrow Begins Today takes an original reggae stance. Melody 7, the album’s closing instrumental piece, recalls the group’s work on the soundtrack for La Haine, which they have taken up again with La Bataille d’Alger, a film banned in France on its release in 1965 because of its political stance. And it’s still hot stuff: the Pentagon viewed the film in 2003 as part of its fight against rebel groups in Iraq.
Protection - we do a lot of it these days. Sun cream for our skin, sunglasses for our eyes, condoms for you know where - but do you remember to protect your hearing?
Click to find all the information you need to look after your hearing now so you can enjoy music for years to come
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