The Prodigy’s musical mastermind Liam Howlett has revealed that a follow up to his seminal 1999 DJ mix album ‘The Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One’ is on the cards.
In an interview with Decoded Magazine ahead of their most recent Australian tour – which just wrapped up earlier this month – Howlett addressed the constant rumours swirling around the elusive sequel.
“Yeah it’s coming. It’s a priority for 2019, I just need some downtime,” he confirmed. “I’ve written a tracklist on my computer. There are so many tracks I have in mind for the second one.”
Initially a mix produced for Mary Anne Hobbs’s Breezeblock show on BBC Radio One in 1998, ‘The Dirtchamber Sessions’ Volume 1’ was subsequently given an official release as a DJ mix album in 1999.
A deft mash-up of Howlett’s musical influences, the mix chopped up a whopping 49 tracks across just over 50 minutes, featuring everyone from Herbie Hancock and Jane’s Addiction to The Beastie Boys and Ultramagnetic MC’s.
A commercial and critical success, Prodigy fans have been furiously debating a sequel in forums and on social media for two decades since. So why the eternally long wait?
“It was a total nightmare doing Volume 1. It was so tough to get clearance for all the samples,” Howlett confesses. “My solution was simply to get on the phone and ask. I think people appreciate it when you do. I mean I wouldn’t want people using my tunes without my permission or putting bits of my tracks on some record company compilation. I’d react in the same way.”
It’s also no secret that Howlett takes his time in the studio, so sample clearances aside, and with The Prodigy in the midst of a world tour promoting the band’s seventh studio album, it’s anyone’s guess when ‘Dirtchamber 2’ will see the light of day.
