Killing Joke announce 'In Dub' plus new live album, and book of essays from Jaz Coleman

Seminal post-punk band Killing Joke have today announced a release that looks back at the dub versions of their singles, including a wealth of new mixes and rare versions of seminal Killing Joke tracks. Their new album, Killing Joke – In Dub, compiled by superproducer and founding member Youth, will be released on 24 March, alongside a new double live album from the band, a new symphony produced by front-man Jaz Coleman called The Island, and a new book of essays and reflections from Coleman entitled Letters From Cytheria.

Youth spoke about his role in compiling the new album, explaining: "I first discovered dub in 1976, along with many other kinds of music it became the soundtrack to my late teenage years and consistent through the rest of my life. We were surrounded by dub in Ladbroke Grove in the late 1970’s… This is the first time a collection of Killing Joke’s dub mixes has been released as an album, spread over 3 CDs over four hours of dub annihilation… it has been an epic voyage. Compiling the best of the legacy and distilling all new dub plates into a definitive collection was never going to be easy. This album has taken over a year to lovingly put together and of all of the many productions and mixes I have been fortunate enough to have been involved with, this one, I’m sure, will be one of those that tells the story best and the one that makes me feel extremely proud to be a part of the phenomena that is Killing Joke." The album will be available as a 3 CD set, or as a digital download.

Coleman's The Island is a new suite composed in 1997 by Coleman to celebrate gaining his New Zealand citizenship – it will be released as a companion to his new book of essays, Letters To Cytheria, covering a fertile period in 2007-2008 when Coleman was compiling "a detailed account of his hidden history and involvement with Hermetics, Earth Sciences and the Rosicrucian tradition." The essays cover "the principles of self education, symbolism, quantum mechanics, numerology," and Coleman's "ongoing obsession with the image of a hidden island at the ends of the earth."

Also due for release on 24 March is live album Down by the River, recorded in 2011 at the Royal Festival Hall, which will be available as a double CD with a DVD of extras. The band's Geordie Walker describes Down by the River as "‘the definitive KJ Live album." Pre-orders for all the new Killing Joke releases are available through the usual outlets.

From the archive

 Killing Joke's Jaz Coleman on MMXII: "The world's on a war footing..."