Wonky is the eighth studio album by Orbital, released on their own ACP label (via Warner Music Group/Alternative Distribution Alliance) in the UK on 2 April 2012, and exclusively through iTunes in the United States and Canada on 17 April 2012. The album is their first since the Blue Album in 2004 and the first since they reformed in 2008. It features vocals from Zola Jesus and Lady Leshurr.
Wonky debuted at number 22 on the UK Albums Chart, selling 8,001 copies in its first week. This was their highest position on the album chart since 2001.
Recording
Following their reformation and successful comeback shows, Orbital decided that they needed to write new material to include in their live shows. The album was recorded mostly using vintage and analogue synthesizers, primarily the Macbeth M5, Moog Voyager, and Jomox SunSyn as well as a Roland 303, 808, 909, and SH-02, between January and November 2011 in Brighton where the Hartnoll brothers both lived. The recording of the album was documented with video diaries, where the brothers shared commentary and works and progress. The band plotted out the album's sound and structure very early on with a visual map drawn on old wallpaper, kept on their studio wall and annotated with sticky notes. Producer Flood was brought in to help with the mixing.
The vocal samples from "One Big Moment" were favorites collected over the course of their career. Paul started searching for a vocalist for "New France" later in the recording process, and while using Spotify discovered Zola Jesus, whom he "instantly fell in love with." Her vocals were recorded in London while on tour in Europe. "Wonky" began as an "off-the-map" instrumental demo recorded for their 2011 Glastonbury DJ set at the Arcadia stage, before the idea to feature a "Missy Elliot-type" rapper occurred. It was nicknamed "Cats" in the studio due to its unintentional cat-like sounds. The accompanying video for the single release featured numerous cats with CGI animated mouths 'meowing' to these sounds. "Distractions" was inspired by the dub sounds of Adrian Sherwood and samples the voice of folk singer Emily Portman. "Beelzedub" is a remix of their early 1990 song "Satan" which evolved from changes made to the track over years of live performances, and was originally not intended for the album until producer Flood "begged" the duo to include it. Similarly, "Stringy Acid" originated from an unfinished demo created in late 1989, which was re-discovered on an old cassette tape and re-worked for the album. Orbital described the title of "Where Is It Going?" as an optimistic question about the future of the band.
The album's title is, according to Paul Hartnoll, a reference to the fact that "we've never really fitted in".
Promotion
The track "Never" was released as a free download from the official Orbital site in January 2012. An edited version of "New France" was released as the first single on 27 February 2012 as a single track download, with a remix EP released on 19 March 2012 featuring remixes from L-Vis 1990, Tom Middleton and The Hydraulic Dogs. The title track was released as the second single on 21 April 2012. "Where Is It Going?" was released as the third single on 27 August.
Release
Wonky was released as a CD album, a double CD album, a vinyl LP and as a digital download. The double CD album includes a second disc featuring five tracks recorded live in Australia in 2010. The iTunes Deluxe version also features two music videos for "Never" and "Straight Sun".
Reception
The album received generally favourable reviews. The aggregated score from 20 reviews on Metacritic gave it an average of 74/100.
Many critics felt that Wonky was Orbital's best album in some time. Drowned in Sound wrote "Well here's something I never thought I'd ever write again: the new Orbital album is great", and went on to say that Wonky was "the best record Orbital have made in the past 15 years and up there with their very best". Mojo said "the best Orbital album since 1994's Snivilisation? Certainly". Steve Price (writing on the Orbital website Loopz) reviewed the album on 4 February 2012 and said "...after many weeks of listening, I feel this is probably one of the best Orbital albums since In Sides". MusicOMH stated "as it turns out, this is not a duo in the last throes of their musical lives – rather it marks the beginning of a new and potentially very exciting chapter for the Hartnoll brothers".