''The Machine Stops'' is a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

space rock Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...

band

Hawkwind Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard ...

, released on 15 April 2016. It is inspired by the

E.M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly ''A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stori ...

short story of the same name. It is Hawkwind's twenty-ninth studio album, Hawkwind's first album recorded without the involvement of

Tim Blake Timothy Blake (born 6 February 1952, in Shepherd's Bush, London) is a keyboardist, synthesist, vocalist, and composer working with Gong, Hawkwind and his Synthesizer and Light performances as Crystal Machine, with the French Light Artist Pat ...

since 2010's ''

Blood of the Earth ''Blood of the Earth'' is the twenty sixth studio album by the British space rock group Hawkwind, released on 21 June 2010. Although it is a new studio album, there are some new versions of older songs. "You’d Better Believe It" was originall ...

'' and the first to feature bassist Haz Wheaton. Following ''Spacehawks'', which was a compilation album largely consisting of re-recorded songs, and ''Stellar Variations'' which had been released under the Hawkwind Light Orchestra moniker, ''The Machine Stops'' is Hawkwind's first studio album composed entirely of new material released under the Cherry Red label.

Production and release

Mr Dibs Jonathan Darbyshire (born 4 August 1964) (now Jonathan Hulme by deed poll), widely known by his stage name Mr Dibs or Dibs Hawkwinder, is a British musician, best known as a former member of the space rock group Hawkwind. Career Before Hawkwi ...

had first mentioned the production of a new album at a 2014 concert in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. The official Hawkwind Twitter account first announced that the album was in the works in December 2015. The band played "The Machine" and its preceding spoken word counterpart "All Hail The Machine" at a performance at The Coronet in London on 20 December 2015. Hawkwind released one single from the album for free on their Facebook page, "A Solitary Man" with an accompanying video in March 2016. Tim Blake left the band before the album's release to pursue his

Crystal Machine ''Crystal Machine'' is a combination studio/live album by Tim Blake, recorded and released in 1977 on Egg Records, LP (900545). Track listing All tracks composed by Tim Blake #"Midnight" :40#"Metro/Logic" :07#"Last Ride of the Boogie Child" ...

project and does not feature on the album, with his usual contributions being replaced by increased synthesiser work by Niall Hone and Dead Fred. The album also marks the first official appearance of Haz Wheaton. Wheaton had appeared with the "skeleton crew" spin off live band, Technicians of Spaceship Hawkwind some years before joining the band at

The Coronet The Coronet Theatre was a large live music and night-club venue with a 2,600 capacity located at 28 New Kent Road in Elephant and Castle, London, England. The historic venue operated as an entertainment venue from 1879 until 2018 and to up to i ...

performance in December 2015 to play bass. Following that performance and the release of the album, he was a feature of the live shows for the next couple of years, as well as playing on the band's next studio album

Into The Woods ''Into the Woods'' is a 1987 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story ...

. Here, he contributes bass to the final two tracks, "Tube" and "Lost In Science". The album entered the Official UK charts at number 29. This was the highest chart position since Choose Your Masques in 1982 which achieved the same chart position.

Track listing

All tracks written by

Dave Brock David Anthony Brock (born 20 August 1941) is an English musician. He plays electric guitar, keyboards, bass and oscillators. He is a founder, sole constant member and musical focus of the space rock group Hawkwind.Allmusic– Dave Brock biogr ...

except where stated.

Personnel

;Hawkwind *

– vocals, guitar, synthesisers * Richard Chadwick – drums *

– vocals, bass guitar *

Niall Hone Niall Hone (born 24 June 1970) is an English musician, best known as a member of the UK space rock band Hawkwind from 2008 to 2017, and May 2018–2021. Hone has also been heavily involved in electronic dance music since the early 1990s. Music ...

– synthesisers, bass guitar * Dead Fred – keyboards * Haz Wheaton – bass guitar

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Machine Stops 2016 albums E. M. Forster Science fiction concept albums Hawkwind albums