Artist: Monobox
Title: Forwardbase Kodai EP
Label: M-Plant
Cat. #: M.PM039
Format: vinyl / digital
Release Date: 29 October 2021
Tracklist:
A1. Forwardbase Kodai
A2. Forwardbase Kodai (Ø [Phase] Remix)
B1. Forwardbase Kodai (Robert Hood Re-Plant)
B2. Homestead

You might think that Robert Hood is an artist who is content with the successes he’s achieved via his solo work and those alongside daughter, Lyric (as Floorplan) but this is not a man who easily rests on his laurels so after a long-time in the planning he is set to regenerate his much-loved Monobox alias with a new EP in October followed by an artist album in November.

Originally launched in 1996 his Monobox sound spanned a trio of EPs on his own M-Plant label, culminating in more releases including the ‘Molecule’ album (in 2003) for French label Logistic, which later spawned a series of remixes including those of Ricardo Villalobos and Matthew Dear. A brief return came in 2014 as part of M-Plant’s 20th anniversary celebrations, which saw the release of a new Monobox 12″, ‘Film / Rectangle’. Speaking to RBMA that year for one of their Fireside Chat interviews, Robert said: “Monobox was an alien project. I read this book when I was probably around 13 or 14. It was this ominous black box that came from some other universe, and it was just sort of hovering over the planet, over a cornfield somewhere.”

In Robert’s mind the idea for the new EP and album is that this vessel has been lying dormant for 40 or 50 years and is now beginning to rise up again, or regenerate.

His ‘Forwardbase Kodai EP’ features two exclusive originals that will not appear on the forthcoming album. Robert’s approach to this moniker was to create techno minimalism, but from an alien futuristic perspective and the title track sets the scene for this Monobox re-awakening, while ‘Homestead’ delivers a gentler but no less epic take on the bristling and sci-fi tinged techno sound.

Also featured on the EP is an imposing remix by Ø [Phase] making his M-Plant debut, alongside a blistering Robert Hood Re-Plant edit.

The EP is set for release on October 29th and will be followed by the ‘Regenerate’ album in November.