Massive Attack, 'Psyche' -- Song Premiere

A good seven years will have passed by the time Massive Attack unleash their fifth studio album and follow-up to 2003's '100th Window' next February. To hold eager fans over, the trip-hop duo is releasing the 'Splitting the Atom' EP on Oct. 5. The EP serves as "a glimpse into the new album a little," the duo's Robert Del Naja tells Spinner. For the four-track glimpse into the future, Massive Attack -- Naja and Grant Marshall -- cherry-picked two new original tunes, the title track and 'Pray For Rain,' as well as remixes of the new tracks 'Psyche' and 'Bulletproof Love.'

"'Splitting the Atom' is about the repetition of certain circles and trying to work out where you fit in the loop," says Del Naja of the EP's lead track. "For us now socially, in the UK, in the new recession, remembering the recession of the '80s and watching us repeat the same thing, I think it's interesting watching the cycle of life, not necessarily positively interesting."

Listen to 'Psyche'


On the more positive side of things, Massive Attack teamed with a long list of collaborators for the new album. The title track alone boasts vocals from reggae singer and longtime collaborator Horace Andy and tweaks from Gorillaz backbone Damon Albarn. Albarn also contributed to the original version of 'Bulletproof Love,' which features Elbow's Guy Garvey on vocals.

Next up on the roster is TV on the Radio frontman Tunde Adebimpe, who sits in on 'Pray for Rain.' Massive Attack left their usual comfort zone and headed to Brooklyn to record the track. "We've always been Manhattan focused," Del Naja admits. "When we met Tunde, Dave Sitek and the rest of the TVOTR guys, they took us to Brooklyn. We found there was more to life there, which was an eye opener to us."

But it's Massive Attack's work with fellow Bristol, UK native and Britpop chanteuse Martina Topley-Bird that Del Naja calls "one of the greatest collaborations on the record." A teenage Topley-Bird appeared on former Massive Attack MC Tricky's 1995 solo debut, 'Maxinquaye.'

"We've got a lot of history with her working with Tricky," Del Naja says of hitting the studio with Bird. "It was something we could have done earlier, but each party was circling the other with trepidation and the fear of disappointment once you finally get something out together." For the EP, Sweden's Van Rivers and the Subliminal Kid rework the new Massive Attack/Bird collaboration 'Psyche,' which you can exclusively spin below.

If this EP's list of collaborators isn't enough to make you go cross-eyed there is one more surprise. "We got more tracks than we need for the record," Del Naja says, telling fans to check the site for a new track each month leading up to the new album's release. "The actual definition of an album is so different now than it used to be. We'll have a 10 to 11 tracks album, possibly 12." According to Del Naja, there are six that aren't making the cut. "Hopefully by the time the album comes out there should be, with the mixes, 8 or 9 things out," he says.