Creation Rebel broke new ground in the late 1970s as the UK’s first dub band, bridged the gap between reggae and punk by sharing stages with the Clash and the Slits, and released six cult-classic albums – then disappeared for 40 years. “You’re looking at each other and all the years have passed and you’re suddenly these big old men,” says producer Adrian Sherwood, who has worked with the group since its inception and produced their excellent new comeback album, Hostile Environment. “But we haven’t gone far off the original way, spiritually, that we were first pulled to. I know that sounds like a load of hippy bollocks, but that’s the truth. Making this one felt deep.”
Hostile Environment mixes new dub works with politically charged vocals, the title a refutation of the disastrously punitive UK immigration policy introduced by Theresa May and furthered by her successors. “It was against the backdrop of the Windrush scandal, and after one of those Nazi home secretaries said they want to create a hostile environment to stop those seeking refuge,” said Sherwood. “It’s the perfect title for the record, ’cause all our crew’s foreparents came from the Windrush generation.”
