Mala to reissue full back catalogue digitally via relaunched I&I label
Mala is set to reissue his back catalogue digitally for the first time.
The dubstep pioneer will re-release his full solo and collaborative catalogue over the coming months, starting with a digital remaster of his landmark 2006 cut, ‘Anti War Dub’, which you can hear below.
Reissues will encompass Mala’s releases on DMZ, Soul Jazz, Big Apple, Tempa and more, the vast majority of which have never been available as official digital releases before. As the description on ‘Anti War Dub’s Bandcamp explains, these labels’ catalogues were originally part of “scene built on dub-plates and vinyl only productions.”
Each reissued track has been remastered by their original engineer: Jason at Transition Mastering.
The catalogue will be released through I&I Records, the label founded by Mala in 2007, and relaunched in 2019 for a collaborative single, ‘Word & Sound’, with Natty and Benjamin Zephaniah. Remastered tracks will also be available to listen to through streaming services.
Mala teased his reissue project in his February 2021 cover interview with DJ Mag, in which he explained his desire to have “a clear representation of what I’m really about” online.
“I don’t care so much about reaching a million Spotify streams or being sampled by some bigger artist than me,” he said at the time. “For me, it’s about being able to walk into the dance, shake hands with people like Channel One and play on their sound. I count being able to do that among my life’s greatest achievements.”
Listen to ‘Anti War Dub’ below, and buy the digital remaster here.
Photo credit: Caroline Lessire