Environment, world peace… English group Massive Attack more militant than ever

Although they haven’t released an album for almost 15 years, the cult trip hop group is making a detour to France this summer. Behind the scenes, its members are still as committed as ever, whether for peace, against racism or for the defense of the environment.

The English group Massive Attack, pioneers of trip hop, are returning to France this summer. They are on tour, and they are closing the Beauregard festival in Hérouville-Saint-Clair (Calvados) on Sunday, July 7. Although they haven’t released an album for almost 15 years, they retain a special aura, notably thanks to their multiple commitments, whether for peace, against racism or for the defense of the environment… And their voice still carries a lot.

At the turn of the 90s, in the grey streets of Bristol, Massive Attack was born from the soil of counterculture. In this England which was preparing to say goodbye to the brutality of Thatcherismthis group, more akin to a collective, would define trip hop, first, then give visibility to artists of all kinds.

Recognizable voices, like Tricky or Horace Andy, but also a whole wave of protest art linked to graffiti. The artist Banksy is thus linked to the group: Robert Del Naja, the leader of Massive Attack, is regularly suspected of hiding behind the bombs of the most famous and mysterious street artist in the world.

On the ecology side, Massive Attack has been participating for five years in a study in conjunction with the University of Manchester to decarbonize the music industry, and in particular tours that are harmful to the environment. There are also strong convictions that the collective has held for over thirty years, whether against the war in Iraq after September 11, or the Russian invasion of Ukraine. More recently, the group participated in the musical project “Ceasefire” with other British artists, in support of Palestinian victims.

Massive Attack do not hesitate to act, as in May, by withdrawing from the Great Escape festival in Brighton, because of the links of the Barclays bank, which sponsors the event, with companies selling arms to Israel. Recently, they also cancelled a concert in Georgia in solidarity with civil society protesting against a Russian-inspired law on “foreign agents”. Not very active on record, certainly, but more militant than ever in reality.