Slaves aka Isaac Holman and Laurie Vincent’s new album ‘Take Control’ is out September 30 – and there’s a bloody Beastie Boy on it! Here’s everything you need to know.
It’s way better than their first album
Isaac: “I feel like it’s definitely a progression – it’s more considered and more thought out.”
Laurie: “It’s better! There’s songs that I can imagine people singing along to now. We’ve gone heavier in some areas and softer in others, but we’ve committed to both sides. I feel much happier.
Isaac: “We’ve pushed our own creativity further – it feels like a lot of work’s gone into it.”
Mike D from the Beastie Boys produced it
Laurie: “He wanted to do more production and had heard our record somehow. He was approached to do something else, but said ‘no, I wanna do Slaves’. Before you know it, I’m sitting in my flat on the phone to a Beastie Boy. He admitted to being a huge fan of our first record [2015’s ‘Are You Satisfied?’]. He said we had to top it – which is cool, because I like being around ambitious people – it’s infectious.”
Isaac: “He’s wicked.”
They recorded in glam Malibu and Santa Monica
Isaac: “We went to Mike’s house studio first and then we went into a proper studio – we’ve never been in a plush studio like that.”
Laurie: “If you wanted to something, there was a runner to go and get you food. I was taking the piss – I was asking for beer and lots of vegan food. It was [1970s folk songwriter] Jackson Brown’s personal studio.”
Mike D raps on ‘Consume Or Be Consumed’
Isaac: “It’s more of a hip-hop song.”
Laurie: “All the Skepta stuff last year gave us the confidence to do it. All of Isaac’s lyrics on it are really old ones from when he used to rap when he was a teenager.”
Isaac: “We were talking about getting Mike to rap on it for ages before – it was our little plan.”
Laurie: “I took the lyric sheet when he left the studio and I’m going to get it framed – I fanboyed quite hard.”
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Mike’s kids are damn cool
Isaac: “Mike D’s kids were previously into a lot of trap music but now are real big Slaves fans – they make their own Slaves merch! Mike told us that they were jamming with their friends, one of them was on drums and one was on guitar and they were playing ‘The Hunter’ – the kid who was on bass said ‘this is a sick riff’ – and he’s the son of Metallica’s bassist. It’s like a baby super group.”