Orbital are an English

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

duo from Dunton Green, Kent, England, consisting of brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll. The band's name is taken from Greater London's orbital motorway, the M25, which was central to the early

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

scene during the early days of

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just " acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synt ...

. Additionally, the cover art on three of their albums showcase stylised

atomic orbitals In quantum mechanics, an atomic orbital () is a function describing the location and wave-like behavior of an electron in an atom. This function describes an electron's charge distribution around the atom's nucleus, and can be used to calc ...

. Orbital have been critically and commercially successful, known particularly for their live

improvisation Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

during shows.

Career

Early years and influences

Paul Hartnoll described the early incarnation of Orbital as a "low-cost bedroom New Order/

Severed Heads Severed Heads were an Australian electronic music group founded in 1979 in music, 1979 as Mr and Mrs No Smoking Sign. The original members were Richard Fielding and Andrew Wright, who were soon joined by Tom Ellard. Fielding and Wright had both ...

". Other influences from the late 1970s and early 1980s included The Beat, Cabaret Voltaire, OMD and

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...

. The catalogues of Tamla Motown,

ZTT ZTT Records is a British record label founded in 1983 by the record producer Trevor Horn, the businesswoman Jill Sinclair and the ''NME'' journalist Paul Morley. They released music by acts including Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Grace Jones, ...

and

Trojan Records Trojan Records is a British record label founded by Jamaican Duke Reid, Lee Gopthal and Chris Blackwell in 1968. It specialises in ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub music. The label currently operates under the Sanctuary Records Group. Th ...

, and the classic rock of bands like

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

and Genesis, were also influential. The Hartnolls have expressed a deep appreciation of

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, ) is a Germany, German Electronic music, electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk was among the first successful a ...

. In 1987, Orbital recorded " Chime" on their father's 4 track tape deck, which they released on DJ Jazzy M's Oh Zone Records in December 1987. and re-released on

FFRR Records FFRR Records (sometimes credited as Full Frequency Range Recordings) is a dance music label founded as a subsidiary of London Records in 1986, with A&R run by the British DJ Pete Tong. Originally a part of London Records' label roster, F ...

a few three years later. The track became a rave anthem, reaching number 17 in the UK charts and earning them an appearance on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'', during which they wore anti-

Poll Tax A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. ''Poll'' is an archaic term for "head" or "top of the head". The sen ...

T-shirts. According to Paul Hartnoll, the track was recorded "under the stairs" of their parents' house in "a knocked-through stair cupboard that my dad set up as a home office". The track received its first live airing at a club night hosted by the promoter Que Pasa (Mark, Andrew and Nick Maddox) in a local Sevenoaks venue called the Grasshopper on Boxing Day. Next was a gig at the Town and Country 2 in Islington, performing for the first time under the name Orbital. Several singles and EPs followed, and their first self-titled album, a collection of tracks recorded at various times, was released in late 1991. In late 1992, the ''Radiccio'' EP barely reached the UK top 40, although it included one of their most popular songs, " Halcyon". The track featured a sample of Kirsty Hawkshaw from "It's a Fine Day" (a chart hit for Opus III earlier that year). The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

"The Naked and the Dead" was similarly based on a line from Scott Walker's rendition of

Jacques Brel Jacques Romain Georges Brel (; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed theatrical songs. He generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, but later throughout the world ...

's song "Next". "Halcyon" was dedicated to the Hartnolls' mother, who was addicted to the tranquiliser Halcion (Triazolam) for many years. The duo's popularity grew rapidly with the release of their second self-titled album, in 1993. The album included complex arrangements and textures, opening with the two-minute track "Time Becomes". The track consisted of two slightly delayed, looped samples of a line from the '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' episode ''Time Squared'' spoken by actor Michael Dorn as the character Lieutenant Worf: "... where time becomes a loop" being played simultaneously through the left and right channels, respectively (until one cycle of phase difference has happened). The same sample was used at the beginning of "the Moebius", the opening track in the previous album. This audio pun was intended to make listeners believe that they had bought a mis-pressed album (''Orbital 1'' packaged as ''Orbital 2''). The album reached #28 on the UK album charts, staying in the chart for 15 weeks. "Halcyon" was

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

ed for the album, as "Halcyon + On + On". Versions of this song played live by the band have incorporated diverse samples, including " You Give Love a Bad Name" by the band

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Sayreville, New Jersey in 1983. The band consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarists John Shanks and Phil X, percussionist Everett Bradley ...

, " Heaven Is a Place on Earth" by

Belinda Carlisle Belinda Jo Carlisle ( ; born August 17, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, one of the most successful all-female rock bands of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a sol ...

, and in 2004 "

I Believe in a Thing Called Love "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" is a song by English rock band the Darkness, released as the third single from their debut studio album, '' Permission to Land''. When released as a single in September 2003, it peaked at number two on the ...

" by the band The Darkness. The first two albums are commonly known as "The Green Album" and "The Brown Album", after the colours of their covers (although the first album's cover is yellow, one of the first printings had a misprint causing the cover to be yellow-green).

1994 breakthrough

Orbital won an ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' award for Vibes Best Dance Act early in 1994, but it was their headline appearance at the

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

on 25 June 1994 that brought them most attention. ''Q'' magazine classed it as one of the top 50 gigs of all time, and in 2002 included Orbital in their list of "50 Bands to See Before You Die". Crucially, the expanded TV coverage of the 1994 Glastonbury Festival by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

meant that Orbital's set reached a huge audience, in what is regarded as a pivotal moment. Speaking to The Guardian in 2013 about the gig, Paul Hartnoll commented: "I didn't know how much of an impact it would have. Being young myself, I just thought, 'It's about time – of course we should have acid house at Glastonbury'. It used to annoy me. I just used to think it should be happening." Orbital gave an improvisational element to live electronic music as the brothers mixed and sequenced their tracks on the fly, wearing their trademark head-mounted torches behind banks of equipment. Orbital were one of the few electronic acts invited to play at Woodstock '94. The third album, ''

Snivilisation ''Snivilisation'' is the third studio album by the British electronic music duo Orbital (band), Orbital. It was released on 8 August 1994 through FFRR Records. The album peaked at number 4 on the UK Albums Chart, and had sold over 80,000 copies ...

'', was released in August 1994.

Alison Goldfrapp Alison Elizabeth Margaret Goldfrapp (born 13 May 1966) is an English musician and record producer, known as the vocalist of English electronic music duo Goldfrapp. Early life and education Alison Elizabeth Margaret Goldfrapp was born on 13 Ma ...

provided vocals on a couple of the tracks, including the single "Are We Here?". This track also included a sample from "Man at C&A" by

The Specials The Specials, also known as the Special AKA, were an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, J ...

. Among the remixes of "Are We Here?" was "Criminal Justice Bill?" – four minutes of silence, a reference to the

Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (c. 33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It introduced a number of changes to the law, most notably in the restriction and reduction of existing rights, clamping down on unlicensed ...

, which was in part intended to clamp down on the rave scene which had given birth to Orbital. The other track with Goldfrapp vocals, "Sad But True", was remixed for the ''Times Fly'' EP, the band's only release in 1995. The single " The Box" was released in April 1996, reaching number 11 in the UK, and its parent album ''

In Sides ''In Sides'' is the fourth album by British electronic group Orbital (band), Orbital, released in the UK on Internal on 29 April 1996. The album's title is a reference to the fact that the original vinyl LP release of the album was as a 3-LP ...

'', released in May 1996, became their second Top Five album. ''In Sides'' has since come to be one of their most critically well-regarded works. As with the previous album, there was a vague theme of ecological disaster and dissatisfaction with society. The following year, the duo contributed to film soundtracks ('' The Saint'', ''

Event Horizon In astrophysics, an event horizon is a boundary beyond which events cannot affect an outside observer. Wolfgang Rindler coined the term in the 1950s. In 1784, John Michell proposed that gravity can be strong enough in the vicinity of massive c ...

'', '' Spawn'') and enjoyed the biggest singles of their career, with a live version of "

Satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

" and their reworking of the aforementioned '' The Saint'' theme both reaching number three in the UK. The ''In Sides'' track "Out There Somewhere (Part 2)" was also included in the long-awaited game series relaunch of '' Test Drive 4''. Orbital would go on to aid the ''

Mortal Kombat ''Mortal Kombat'' is an American media franchise centered on a series of fighting game, fighting video games originally developed by Midway Games in 1992. The original ''Mortal Kombat (1992 video game), Mortal Kombat'' arcade game spawned Lis ...

'' film soundtrack in reaching Platinum selling status during 1995, with a remix of "Halcyon", which can be heard during the final scene of the film.

Later albums

In 1998, they returned to the studio to work on their fifth album '' The Middle of Nowhere''. This was released in 1999, becoming their third top five album, and was a return to a more upbeat style; with Alison Goldfrapp returning on vocals and the single "Style" using the

stylophone The Stylophone is a miniature analog synthesizer played with a stylus. Invented in 1967 by Brian Jarvis, it entered production in 1968, manufactured by Dubreq. Some three million Stylophones were sold, mostly as children's toys, but they we ...

. In 2000 the single "Beached" was released from the soundtrack to the film '' The Beach'', mixing the brothers' musical style with a melody by Angelo Badalamenti and the words of

Leonardo DiCaprio Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (; ; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for Leonardo DiCaprio filmography, his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received ...

from the film. '' The Altogether'', released in 2001, included guest vocals by the Hartnolls' brother-in-law David Gray, a sampled

Ian Dury Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 27 March 2000) was an English singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame in the late 1970s, during the punk rock, punk and new wave music, new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Kilburn ...

, and a version of the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' theme, and was mixed for 5.1 surround sound. It was to be their last album for FFRR, and had a mixed critical reception. The following year, ''

Work 1989-2002 Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an ani ...

'' collected various singles from "Chime" onwards. Orbital recorded the track "Technologique Park" for the 2002 film '' XXX'', in which they can be seen playing the track live in a club. In 2003, Orbital recorded the soundtrack for the horror film ''

Octane Octane is a hydrocarbon and also an alkane with the chemical formula C8H18, and the condensed structural formula CH3(CH2)6CH3. Octane has many structural isomers that differ by the location of branching in the carbon chain. One of these isomers ...

''. Orbital split up in 2004. They played a final series of gigs in June and July 2004 at the

, the T in the Park Festival in Scotland, the

Oxegen Oxegen was a List of music festivals#Ireland, music festival in Ireland, first held from 2004–2011 as a rock and pop festival and again in 2013 with dance and chart acts only. The event was regularly cited as Ireland's biggest music festiva ...

festival in Ireland, Istanbul, Turkey and the in Japan, concluding with a live

Peel Session John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

gig at Maida Vale Studios in London on 28 July 2004. The release of their seventh and last original album, '' Blue Album'', coincided with this final wave of shows. The album included Sparks (on "Acid Pants") and Lisa Gerrard (on the final single, "One Perfect Sunrise").

Following the breakup

Paul Hartnoll continued to record music under his own name, including tracks for the 2005 game '' Wipeout Pure'' for the '' PSP''. He released his first solo album, '' The Ideal Condition'', on the ACP record label in June 2007. Alongside

Flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

, he also jointly produced '' Strength in Numbers'' by band

The Music The Music was an English alternative rock band, formed in Kippax, Leeds in 1999. Comprising Robert Harvey (vocals, guitar), Adam Nutter (lead guitar), Stuart Coleman (bass) and Phil Jordan (drums), the band came to prominence with the releas ...

. Phil Hartnoll formed a new electronica duo, Long Range, with Nick Smith. Their debut album, ''Madness and Me'', was released on their own label, Long Range Recordings, in August 2007. Orbital released a two-CD/DVD compilation '' Orbital: Live at Glastonbury 1994-2004'' in June 2007, containing over two hours of music recorded at their various performances at the festival.

Comeback and ''Wonky''

On 21 November 2008, Orbital announced they would be reforming to play a gig together called "20 years after Chime" at The Big Chill Festival 2009. They preceded this show with a headline performance at RockNess 2009 in June. On 26 January 2009, their official website ''Loopz'' announced confirmed dates for their 20th anniversary tour. "The Orbital reformation gathers momentum with headline shows now confirmed for

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and London this September." The concerts met with positive reviews. The band's first performance after the breakup took place in June 2009 at Selector Festival in Cracow, Poland. On 17 April 2009, it was announced that Orbital would be playing at The Electric Picnic in September 2009. On 16 June 2009, Orbital released a 2-CD collection of their favourite tracks. The collection, ''Orbital 20'' (stylised as "20rbital"), covered the 20 years since "Chime" and contained 20 tracks. A single, "Don't Stop Me" / "The Gun is Good" was issued in 2010 on 12" and digital download. At the

on 27 June 2010 to close their set,

Matt Smith Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor. He is known for playing the Eleventh Doctor in the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' (2010–2013), Prince Philip in Netflix's historical series ''The Crown ( ...

, who played the

Eleventh Doctor The Eleventh Doctor is an incarnation (otherwise known as regeneration) of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is played by Matt Smith in three series as well as five specials. As wi ...

, came on stage and performed with Orbital their cover of the ''

'' theme tune. On 16 February 2011, Orbital posted a video diary on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

, via Loopz. The video diary reported their progress on the recording of their new album, along with remixes of existing material for their DJ sets. Subsequent diary updates have been published. In October 2011, Orbital announced a six gig UK tour (including a date at the Royal Albert Hall) and new album in April 2012. "Never", a track from the forthcoming album, was offered as a free download. The album titled '' Wonky'' was released on 2 April 2012, and included collaborations with singer

Zola Jesus Nika Roza Danilova (born Nicole Rose Hummel; April 11, 1989), known professionally by her stage name Zola Jesus, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her music has been noted for combining elements of electronic, industrial, ...

and MC Lady Leshurr. The albums release was featured on US radio on PrototypeRadio, which also marked the bands debut radio appearance on American radio. Orbital appeared at the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

for the London 2012 Paralympic Games, performing "Where Is It Going?" live with

Stephen Hawking Stephen William Hawking (8January 194214March 2018) was an English theoretical physics, theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. Between ...

delivering a speech about the

Large Hadron Collider The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It was built by the CERN, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) between 1998 and 2008, in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists, ...

. On 8 October 2012, Orbital released their soundtrack to the 2012 re-make of '' Pusher'', including vocals from Toni Halliday.

Second breakup

On 21 October 2014, Orbital announced on their official website that they were "hanging up their iconic torch-glasses and parting ways for the final time" but would continue to work on projects separately. Phil Hartnoll focused on a DJ career, including a performance at

Fuji Rock Festival is an annual music festival, rock festival held in Naeba Ski Resort, in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The three-day event, organized by Smash (Music promoters), Smash Japan, features more than 200 Japanese and international musicians, making it th ...

, while Paul Hartnoll worked on a variety of music projects, including a solo album under the name 8:58 in 2015, a collaboration with Vince Clarke of Erasure called 2Square, and soundtrack work for ''

Peaky Blinders The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1920s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to working-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racke ...

'' and '' American Ultra''.

2017 reunion and ''Monsters Exist''

In February 2017, Orbital reunited and announced tour dates in June and July, at Forbidden Fruit in Dublin, Bluedot Festival at

Jodrell Bank Jodrell Bank Observatory ( ) in Cheshire, England hosts a number of radio telescopes as part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. The observatory was established in 1945 by Bernard Lovell, a radio astron ...

and Standon Calling in Hertfordshire, and announced that they were working on a new album, releasing "Kinetic 2017", an updated remix of an early single, alongside the announcement. At the Bluedot Festival in July, the

BBC Radiophonic Workshop The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce Incidental music, incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering ...

joined Orbital on stage to perform "Doctor?" live, and in August 2017 the band released non-album single "Copenhagen" after working on the song during their summer live sets. Orbital in 2017

In December 2017, Orbital played two sell out shows over two nights at the Manchester O2 Apollo and the London Eventim Apollo. The sets included two previously unheard songs, "Phuk" (stylised "P.H.U.K.") and "Tiny Foldable Cities". These two shows were released on CD through Pledge Music. A third previously unheard song, "The End is Nigh", was debuted May 2018 at the Biggest Weekend festival in Belfast. A new album, entitled '' Monsters Exist'', was released on 14 September 2018. It was the first Orbital album since ''

'' to feature artwork by John Greenwood, and featured physicist Brian Cox on its final track. In 2019, Orbital revealed plans for a 30th anniversary album, which would feature a compilation of updated versions of their songs created by themselves and their contemporaries. In early 2020, Orbital began performing two new songs tentatively titled "One Day" and "Treadmill" at live shows, including a live streamed "Stay-At-Home-Rave" hosted by United We Stream and The Haçienda, benefiting those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in Greater Manchester. In 2022, the duo composed and recorded the soundtrack for the Netflix comedy series '' The Pentaverate'' created by

Mike Myers Michael John Myers, (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian actor, comedian, and filmmaker. His accolades include seven MTV Movie & TV Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2002, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood W ...

. On 20 October, they announced their tenth studio album titled '' Optical Delusion'', which was released on 17 February 2023, along with a lead single titled "Dirty Rat", featuring Sleaford Mods. In June 2024, their performance at the Glastonbury Festival featured special guests Tilda Swinton (vocals on Deeper) and Mel C (vocals on Spicy). In October 2024, they announced the release of a career-spanning compilation '' A Beginner's Guide'' on 8 November 2024.

Political commentary

Throughout their career, Orbital have sometimes incorporated political and environmental commentary into their music. Early single

Choice A choice is the range of different things from which a being can choose. The arrival at a choice may incorporate Motivation, motivators and Choice modelling, models. Freedom of choice is generally cherished, whereas a severely limited or arti ...

samples a speech against militarization from

Crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...

's "Annihilation". The track "Forever" on ''

'' samples a speech by Graham Crowden from the 1982 Lindsay Anderson film '' Britannia Hospital'', in which he lambasts humankind; and "You Lot" on the '' Blue Album'' included a confrontational, partially vocoded sample of

Christopher Eccleston Christopher Eccleston (; born 16 February 1964) is an English actor whose work has encompassed Hollywood blockbusters and arthouse films, television dramas, Shakespearean stage performances and science fiction, most notably the Ninth Doctor, ni ...

playing the second coming of Jesus Christ in the TV two-part series '' The Second Coming'' written by

Russell T Davies Stephen Russell Davies ( ; born 27 April 1963), known professionally as Russell T Davies, is a Welsh screenwriter and television producer. He is best known for being the original showrunner and head writer of the revival of the BBC sci-fi seri ...

. Although only the phrase "New Age Travellers" from

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...

's 1992 Conservative Party conference speech is retained in the 1995 single release of ''Sad But New'', Orbital first unveiled the track including a fuller version of the speech in March 1995 as part of a live broadcast on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

"Interactive Radio Night", and as a response to the newly passed

. The track "The Girl with the Sun in Her Head" from ''In Sides'' was recorded in a studio powered only by

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

's mobile solar power generator, ''CYRUS''. On the same album, "Dŵr Budr", Welsh for "dirty water", was inspired by the Sea Empress oil spill which took place just off the southern coast of Wales in February 1996. The album as whole 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 ...

on that theme, for example the track "P.E.T.R.O.L". The video for 2018 single "P.H.U.K" (off '' Monsters Exist'') features photography taken from British news services, with loose references to

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

, the London fatberg, the

Grenfell Tower fire On 14 June 2017, a List of fires in high-rise buildings, high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of Public housing in the United Kingdom, flats in North Kensington, West London, England, at 00:54 British Summer Time, BST ...

, moped crime, and the 2010s migrant crisis, among other current events, and the title "Please Help United Kingdom" reappearing. Although not strictly political, the track "There Will Come a Time" (also featured on '' Monsters Exist'') includes a spoken passage by the physicist Brian Cox, where he addresses the future of an expanding universe and the inevitable demise of the Earth, and urges mankind to care for the planet and maintain a peaceful existence while the Earth is still our home. Starting in 2019, live performances of the track "Impact (The Earth Is Burning)" have included a sampled speech from Swedish environmental activist

Greta Thunberg Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3January 2003) is a Swedish climate activist, climate and political activist initially known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action to climate change mitigation, mitigate the effec ...

, declaring "Our house is on fire. I don't want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic." Paul Hartnoll described his intentions behind Orbital's sociopolitical messages as "quite ambiguous. Rather than making social comments, I suppose what we're doing is trying to put a score to the times we live in. I'd like to think that some of these are universal issues – the earth is still burning, even today, the world isn't fixed, and governments are still fucking idiots. I'm not saying I could do any better, but they could. With our music, we're saying 'go on then, sort it out!'"

Awards and nominations

{, class=wikitable , - ! Year !! Awards !! Work !! Category !! Result , - , 1994 , rowspan=2, ''NME'' Awards , Themselves , Best Dance Act , , - , 1995 , Live Performance at

Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...

, Best Live Event , , - , 1997 , Brit Awards , " The Box" , Best British Video , , - , rowspan=2, 1998 , MVPA Awards , rowspan=2, " The Saint" , Directional Debut of the Year , , - , D&AD Awards , Pop Promo Video with a budget over £40.000 , style="background:#BF8040", Wood Pencil , - , 2019 , Berlin Music Video Awards , "Tiny Foldable Cities" , Best Low Budget , , - , 2022 , UK Music Video Awards , "Smiley" , Best Dance/Electronic Video - UK ,

Discography

* ''Orbital'' (Green album) (1991) * ''Orbital'' (Brown album) (1993) *''

'' (1994) *''

'' (1996) *'' The Middle of Nowhere'' (1999) *'' The Altogether'' (2001) *'' Blue Album'' (2004) *'' Wonky'' (2012) *'' Monsters Exist'' (2018) *'' Optical Delusion'' (2023)

References

External links

* – official site (run by Orbital, Loopz and Mondo Management) {{DEFAULTSORT:Orbital (Band) Breakbeat music groups English house music duos English techno music groups Musical groups from Kent Musical groups established in 1989 Musical groups disestablished in 2004 Musical groups reestablished in 2009 Musical groups disestablished in 2014 Musical groups reestablished in 2017 English remixers Sibling musical duos English electronic dance music duos FFRR Records artists English male musical duos