BRISBANE — Massive Attack will tour Australia in August for the first time since 2010, performing in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney. The trip marks the group’s fourth visit to the country and ends a 16-year absence from Australian stages.
The band recently released their first new music in six years, a collaboration with Tom Waits titled "Boots on the Ground." Presale for the Australian shows begins on 4 June, with tickets going on general sale the following day.
Massive Attack was formed in Bristol in 1988 and is widely credited as a pioneer of the trip-hop genre, which blends hip-hop rhythms, soul samples, dub bass, and atmospheric electronics. Their 1991 debut album, Blue Lines, became one of the most influential releases of its era. The group’s best-known songs include "Unfinished Sympathy" and "Teardrop," and their five studio albums—Blue Lines, Protection (1994), Mezzanine (1998), 100th Window (2003), and Heligoland (2010)—have sold more than 13 million copies worldwide.
The band’s previous attempt to tour Australia in 2003 was disrupted when their visas were canceled after member Robert Del Naja was arrested as part of a UK police investigation into child sexual abuse images. Del Naja was never charged, and the investigation was dropped due to lack of evidence. He later claimed a British tabloid had contacted the Australian embassy about the allegations, prompting the visa cancellations and forcing the band to postpone the tour.
"The Australian tour was the hardest time in my life. I had to go on tour with those allegations in the air, which was horrendous," Del Naja said.