What a dystopian title: “The Collapse of Everything” (On-U Sound). Adrian Sherwood has named his new solo work this way, and after 13 years, he presents an album that lives up to its title with almost brutal consistency. Dub Anyone expecting – and with Sherwood, this is not unjustified – will first rub their ears. The sonic cosmos that the On-U-Sound mastermind creates here is far from anything commonly referred to as "Dub“ And yet that is exactly what it is: Dub in spirit. Dub as an attitude. Dub as a method of breaking up and reorganizing.
"Survival & Resistance" in 2012 already clearly demonstrated that Sherwood was forging his own path with his solo works. "The Collapse of Everything," however, definitively departs from familiar paths. What remains is the deconstructivist production style: layers of live recordings, effects, fragments, and rhythms that aren't concerned with groove, but rather with atmosphere, contrast, and disruption. The sound is often off-kilter, at times even atonal, at times almost repellent. Sherwood doesn't seem to want to please anyone here, but rather delivers a dark poem about loss, transience, and resistance.
The deaths of two close friends—Mark Stewart and Keith LeBlanc—helped shape the album. It's not sentimental, but rather permeated by a quiet, blunt respect for the inevitable. In tracks like the title track "The Collapse of Everything," a sense of disillusionment hovers through the expansive soundscapes, underpinned by percussion, dissonant pads, and recurring, barely tangible melodic fragments. The widescreen sound feels like film music—not that of a blockbuster, but that of a dystopian arthouse film. Tarkovsky meets technoir.
Sherwood wouldn't be Sherwood if he relied on his own genius. As always, he surrounds himself with an exquisite ensemble: Doug Wimbish provides the low frequencies, Ivan "Celloman" Hussey contributes strings, Mark Bandola on guitar, Chris Joyce on drums – an illustrious group with whom Sherwood pours his experimental ideas into organic forms. Alex White's woodwinds and keys lend the sound additional depth, at times an almost jazz-like expanse. It is these subtle contributions that prevent "The Collapse of Everything" from sinking into mere gloom. Instead, something shimmers there – not light, but an awareness. "I'm not trying to please anyone but myself," Sherwood says of the album. This attitude characterizes every bar. DubThe idea is not musical, but structural: breaking things up, reassembling them, shifting meanings. Like a musical palimpsest, sounds, memories, and references overlap. If you listen closely, you'll discover traces of On-U Sound, of "Becoming a Cliché," of Lee Perry and Bim Sherman—but all filtered through a dissonant, dystopian sound aesthetic.
It's noticeable that Sherwood has worked for artists like Spoon, Panda Bear, and Halsey in recent years: He's very familiar with the language of indie, pop, and avant-garde electronica. But he doesn't use it to be accessible. On the contrary: The "Collapse of Everything" is a rejection of accessibility. It's radical, subjective, almost hermetic—and consistent in that.
The “Collapse of Everything” is definitely not an album for Dubheads looking for a bass upgrade. It's a statement. A demanding, unruly, bulky piece of music that refuses any function. You could say: Adrian Sherwood has Dub elevated to a free art form – freed from any functional definition. Anyone who wants to hear how Dub can sound when he breaks away from his roots, from having to function in the sound system or on the dance floor, from any audience expectations and generally from everything that we Dub love so much – and yet somehow Dub remains, will find here a fascinating, multi-layered, uncomfortable work.
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Adrian Sherwood: The Collapse of Everything
7 Responses to “Adrian Sherwood: The Collapse of Everything”
A fantastic, empathetic, and for On .U Sound connoisseurs, captivating review. I'm thrilled just by the review itself!
Yes, Adrian Sherwood also stands for very experimental DubAnd because I have known his productions well to very well for about 45 years now, I expect not only and certainly not always flawless Dub. That he can do something like that, or rather can pull it off his sleeve, can be heard, for example, in “Cry Tuff Dub Encounter” and at Dubs like “Bad Man Dub", which also goes far beyond the "normal." I have nothing against the normal. I myself would like to be a bit more normal sometimes, but perhaps it is in my genes that the unusual draws me out of my reserve. The fact that I like DUB Listening to it reinforces this idea. And reggae has never become mainstream. Since then, Sean Paul has somehow been considered part of it...
This album doesn't surprise me in any way. Normally, this music would hardly reach me! But one reason why I am at Adrian Sherwood's feet, so to speak, is that he assembles this music so brilliantly, puts it together, and with brilliant DubSpiced up with effects that go beyond the "normal." What emerges from this is actually quite rare in the groove, but it creates this unique On .U sound atmosphere that still creates a great movie in my head.
Now, of course, it would be almost perfect – in a negative sense – if it turned out to be AI-generated! That would be a real defeat for me. But I've also learned enough about losing long ago. Besides, I'm certain this isn't AI music. When you see how Adrian Sherwood still goes wild at the mixing desk, it's clear he's not going to let anyone take away his immense fun. And when he calls his album "Collapse of Everything," it also shows that he doesn't sugarcoat the world or drink it. Although he does enjoy the occasional glass of wine. "Nobody is perfect!"
In any case, I'm now enthusiastic about the album. The album is like a joint. One hit isn't enough.
I don't know if I'm just carrying too many bad vibes, but I feel exactly the same way about EVERYTHING collapsing here. The biggest collapse is probably the climate. In Iraq, 56 degrees Celsius is no longer uncommon.
Governments all seem to be increasingly relying on fascism and oppression. The internet is full of Pied Pipers from Hamelin. Fake news, AI fakes everywhere. And the completely normal madness of war. All this smartphone hysteria is hypnotizing people and, in the short term, shutting down our free thinking. Everyone is being brought into line. Dub is produced with AI and our “meaning of life”
is devolving into serving as raw material for the financial locusts. We're supposed to get used to plastic food because soon there won't be anything else left... Am I being too crazy? The fish will soon be gone. But there's already enough plastic to fish with. Am I being too negative? Well, I didn't choose the collapse, but I apparently played a part in it so that it would happen soon.
Okay, then some hope for the meantime. We have the so-called
survived the Third Reich and rose again as “Richmen”.
For this we must forever thank the Americans. The whole world, indeed. Okay, I would like to DubI don't want to abuse the blog, but I think that if you just write "like" it doesn't sound much different than the "Baaaah" of the sheep. And "Collapse Of Everything" is certainly not a nice thing in reality. Why should they DubThat's why they can be beautiful. They sometimes sound threatening, making them unsurpassed in authenticity and topicality.
“I don’t want to see no nuclear soldier” not in this time or any other time”
“We don’t need no more war crime”………. “That’s why I don’t sniff the coke, I only smoke Sinsemilla” ………………… lemmi
Catastrophe! Here you "pay" for the name. Simply boring!
It is radical, subjective, almost hermetic – and consistent in this.
xdxdxdxdxdxdxdxdxd
UMMM – NO!
Hi, you either like him or you don't. Adrian Maxwell Sherwood has always been a divided opinion, and that remains true today. The sound wizard can be truly proud of this, as he has always gone "his" own way. He remains one of the most sought-after producers in the contemporary music industry. His progressive style and interest in developing new ideas have always contributed significantly to the continued success of On .U Sound.
Sherwood has been influencing the British reggae scene for many years. He has always been innovative and his distinctive production style has also attracted the interest of many artists outside of the Dub-community. Since the early 1980s, he has been one of the world's most well-known producers and remixers. He has worked with artists as diverse as Depeche Mode, Primal Scream, Einstürzende Neubauten, Simply Red, The Woodentops, and Ministry. He has also explored industrial music and produced tracks for Cabaret Voltaire, Skinny Puppy, KMFDM, and Nine Inch Nails. He incorporates all of these musical influences, particularly in his solo works. However, as is always the case with Sherwood's work, anyone who takes the time to listen will discover new soundscapes with each listen. In my opinion, Sherwood has once again delivered a brilliant masterpiece, but all in all, it is not an album for purists.
“What is he doing with our well-known DubMusic?”
Something like that, I read, the whole eurodubFirst-time and possibly even second-time fans, and probably even music magazines, "criticized" him. They also wrote that Baylon by Bus was something like "pandering to the music fans of the 60s and 70s who were used to rock music." All I can say to that is bullshit! Every word from these snobs and their associates is ridiculous.
Absolutely ridiculous. Why? Because they really didn't get what brilliant music was being played. And the so-called "pandering,"
By which they might have been referring to Al Anderson's virtuosity on the lead guitar, there was even salt and chili in the soup, and then the whipped cream on top! It's really all a matter of taste, and as I said, I understand anyone who doesn't like Adrian's "Collapse." But to look for even the tiniest hair on "Babylon by Bus" shows, in my opinion, a total lack of feeling for music!!! Basta!!! Yeah, man! Pay It All Back!!!
That's why I don't care how others react to On .U Sound.
I just sit on my DubI'm sitting on the couch, absorbing this exciting "audiobook without words" and having a really good time. I've even bought Skinny Puppy, Nine Inch Nails, and Primal Scream, and occasionally enjoy them privately with a certain fascination. At least the tracks that weren't so mixed, and especially the ones where Adrian Sherwood really tinkered with them. But everyone has their tipping point or limits. With Anonymous(us), the limit is already reached, or even exceeded, with "The Collapse of Everything." For me, it's Ministry!
There's a part that I find really exciting, but Ministry just doesn't know what groove is... if I'm not mistaken.
So... and I'm also certain that Adrian Sherwood himself isn't capable of creating anything resembling a groove, because he's not a musician. Which brings me to Doug Wimbish, whom I haven't highlighted enough here. He grooves just by reaching out towards the bass. And Skip McDonald provides the space around the bass lines. I don't even know if he's on "Collapse...", though. I don't have the record yet and haven't even listened to it—in a leisurely way—all the way through. Nevertheless, I know I like it a lot. After all, back in the day, you'd just listen to it briefly before buying it and know, "Yes! That's it, man! I have to have it!"
With “These Things are worse fighting for” a quarter of a femtosecond was enough to fascinate me. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was flicking through my 4 channels and, as always, I was doing it very quickly. I wasn’t in the mood for MTV music at the moment, so I flicked past it in that fraction of a femtosecond. But – and I’m actually a bit proud of this – I immediately thought, “Hey man! What was that!?!” Flick back! And then this tune by On .U Sound came on! On MTV, mind you! That’s why I often write or think, everything was better in the old days!
I can also say about Doug Wimbish that, despite his ability to create a cool groove, he occasionally goes way beyond my comprehension. Sometimes I don't even know if that's a bass he's playing or if it's an entire musical orchestra just getting into tune. You know what I mean. dubThe unusual mix of sounds and instruments that's always "played" before the conductor arrives. I usually find it even better than the serious music that's supposed to be the concert ;-)
But, I admit, I sometimes wondered if he was perhaps smoking too hard on his crack pipe. In any case, I couldn't follow him anymore. Perhaps that's the fate that comes with genius. Very few, if any, could follow Albert Einstein. If he had been employed at On .U Sound, I would have certainly understood the "curvature of space" thing long ago... By the way: I don't like a pure pipe either...
So long ……………… lemmi
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