Plus Special Guest ELLEN BETH ABDI

A CERTAIN RATIO - IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS Live 2024

A CERTAIN RATIO have announced details of a new album, produced by Dan Carey, and an extensive UK tour for spring 2024. It All Comes Down To This, their thirteenth studio album, will be released on 19 April 2024.

The new album is the purest distillation of their essential sound ever committed to tape, and the first time they have recorded as just the core trio of principle band members – multi-instrumentalists Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop and Donald Johnson.

The core trio will be joined on bass by Viv Griffin for the live shows, and the band intend to play the album in its glorious entirety, an endeavour they have never previously attempted, underscoring the unrivalled cohesion that this particular body of work possesses. Many jewels from the past will also adorn the set lists too, and, like ever, reworked and remodelled, the band proud of their past, rather than dependent upon It.

As a snapshot of where A Certain Ratio stand in 2024, It All Comes Down to This is a towering testament to their staying power. For a band whose path has intersected with the lives of Joy Division, The Fall, Talking Heads, Madonna and Grace Jones, to now be immersed in their most creative and prolific period since the early 1980s, puts the great majority of their contemporaries to shame. But then again, when you have always been preoccupied with laying the groundwork for your next steps, you’re unlikely ever to derive much satisfaction from standing still.

Ellen Beth Abdi

Mancunian music-maker Ellen Beth Abdi uses live loops, pokey drums, undulating synths and quietly subversive lyrics to mould her unique sound. Ellen pops up in many areas of the Manchester scene, providing backing vocals (& keys) for legendary indie/alternative bands in the city. From supporting The Stone Roses at Wembley Stadium, touring with New Order for their seminal MIF shows and most recently touring and recording with A Certain Ratio (all by the age of 27). Ellen is now focused on her solo music ‘Potent and lyrical electronic soul with a social conscience. For the thinkers and the movers of this dimension and others’.

EBA’s enchanting and distinctive sound has gained her spots at Manchester International Festival, and support slots for Olivia Dean, Hollie Cooke, Ishmael Ensemble, Oscar Jerome and Allysha Joy. She was invited to collaborate live with music legend Angélique Kidjo, opening Aviva Studios for Manchester International Festival 2023.

Ellen is currently working on a PRS-funded collaboration between herself, The Hallé Orchestra and Youth Choir and Low Four Studio which was recorded in summer ‘23. Ellen has also produced her debut solo album, set for release later this year. In January 2024 Ellen began her work with Opera North’s Resonance Program creating a piece of work with collaborators Seren Marimba and Meme Gold.