Live As One

September 2007 saw the release of the first album since 2002 from ‘Dub/Dance pioneers’ Zion Train. Entitled ‘Live as One’ it was the ninth long player from the UK Dub collective since their 1992 debut ‘A Passage To Indica’.

‘Live As One’ features seven vocalists in various styles. Seasoned performers Earl 16, Tippa Irie and Dubdadda are to be found alongside international stars, Raiz (Italy) and Marlene Johnson (Germany) and also strong newcomers YT and Lua. All bring sterling performances and an inspirational attitude to the album. Whether, it’s the beautiful tones of Earl, Marlene and Lua, the conscious, perceptive observations of YT, Tippa and Dubdadda or the dreamlike quality of Raiz.

This album was the first produced solely by Neil Perch in the Zion Train studio in Cologne, Germany. Perch brings us an album that reassures but also pleasantly surprises; the Zion Train quality and ethos is still present and the depth and quality of musicianship is a revelation. Musicians contributing include the usual, deep blowing brass section, Dave Fullwood and Bigga alongside P Lush, of Nucleus Roots fame, on guitar, keyboards from Paolo Polcari of Almamegretta, drums from Vedran of the Radikal Dub Kolektiv and melodicas from Chasbo of the Bush Chemists. Featuring musicians from Italy, Germany, Croatia, Jamaica and the UK this is truly a world-dub production.

‘Live As One’ was released on Zion Train’s own Universal Egg imprint and in the months preceding the release there were be singles featuring remixes from Rob Smith (Smith & Mighty), Vibronics, Digital of Sativa Records and Kuranaka of Zettai-Mu (Japan) plus up and coming Dubstep and video productions.

Zion Train featured songs from the album in their summer 2007 festival shows and also undertook an extensive tour to support the album release throughout September and October of 2007.