The Algiers have returned to their hometown of Atlanta for their most expansive album to date.
Franklin, Ryan, I would say your new album sounds more hip hop than ever. is that fair
Franklin James Fisher: I don’t know. It might sound new to an outsider, but it’s been an element of our sound from the start. Maybe it wasn’t so clear before, or maybe people didn’t see it. But “Walk like a Panther” on our second record is actually a trap.
Ryan Mahan: We unveil techniques on the album that we’ve always used, like sampling, collage or drum machines. You are only in the foreground here. In the past, our music was often not recognized as hip hop because there was no rapper. There are a few MCs on this album, so of course that changes the context.
More than ten guests from Zack de la Rocha to Billy Woods cavort on “Shook”. Where did the desire for polyphony come from?
Fisher: Even with our last album “There is no Year” we wanted to make a record with a lot of people and voices on it – what has now become “Shook”. I got bored hearing my own voice only 500 times. But we were working with two producers back then who wanted to go in a very different direction.
Mahan: In 2020 and 2021, when we started Shook, we were very cut off from other people. So we wanted to have even more community on the album. We asked ourselves: who will sound best on which track?
Your hometown, the music metropolis of Atlanta, plays a big role on the album. How did this happen?
Fisher: It was our first time back in years. Ryan lives in London, I in New York. When we were suddenly stuck there during the pandemic, it kind of all came back. My cousin from New York used to beat me up and said we didn’t have hip hop there – today the whole world looks to Atlanta musically. Of course Covid was tough, but there was also something good about this break for us. I think without her we would have broken up. We were always on tour, always broke and always stressed. Quarantine allowed Ryan and I to rediscover our common roots.
