Orbital are still going round

The now-legendary electronic duo Orbital proved they’re still something special with the release of ninth album Wonky earlier this year.

That brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll still manage to sound so fresh after 23 years is fairly remarkable - and the duo are delighted at the positive response the album has received from fans and critics alike.

“It’s turned out really well,” says Phil ahead of Orbital’s eagerly-anticipated visit to the HMV Picture House on Sunday. “We’re really happy with it, and really happy with the reception.

“People seem to be digging it, which is fantastic,” he adds.

The Sevenoaks siblings, who split in 2004 only to come back stronger than ever, have also been getting rave reviews for their current tour.

That won’t come as a surprise to anyone who has seen them perform in the past. Orbital have a formidable live reputation and no two gigs they play are ever the same.

“First we get all the individual parts of all the songs we’re going to play prepared so they can go off at any time,” says Paul, explaining their unique approach. “Then we go onstage and improvise the structure of the songs with lots of analog synths and keyboards to twist and manipulate the sounds.

“When working with limited time slots we try to make our tracks shorter and jigsaw them together so we don’t miss certain tracks. Then something good will happen and it will get incorporated into the next gig and the next gig... until you get bored with it or something else happens.”

Orbital, The HMV Picture House, Lothian Road, Sunday, 7pm, £24, 0844-847 1740