How do you become a music legend even though you’ve been on the music scene for almost five decades, without having many solo releases (or those with a band you’re in)? Well, in Adrian Sherwood’s case, by being one of the most renowned and innovative producers around and running an equally legendary label that is Sherwood’s On-U Sound.
Sherwood’s has produced a gamut of artists whether for his label African Head Charge, New Age Steppers, Dub Syndicate, Creation Rebel and more, or big names like Brian Eno, Blur, Depeche Mode, The Fall, Primal Scream, Nine Inch Nails, The Slits, Pinch, Cabaret Voltaire, Einstürzende Neubauten to name just a small number of names.
Yet, his solo albums are quite a scarce affairs through the years, The Collapse of Everything, his latest, is the first of its kind in 13 years! And as those more in the know with Sherwood’s work would expect, it practically covers the complete ground he has covered so far, meaning everything (and with Sherwood, everything is everything), playing like an imaginary film score, ready to use by any imaginative film director.
Of course, as somebody who has collaborated with so many great artists, Sherwood was able to gather a brilliant crew that was able to execute his musical ideas to a tee, making this album an excellent experience for both devoted Sherwood fans and those who have barely heard of him.
Explaining the title and the core of the album itself, Sherwood, notes: “Recently I lost two great friends, Mark Stewart and Keith LeBlanc. Mark had written a song, and part of a lyric was hidden in the song about ‘The Collapse Of Everything’. It seemed a very appropriate title, both summing up my feelings about losing Mark and Keith, and on another level, what’s going on in the world now both politically and environmentally.”
