Underworld - Drift Series 1 (Sampler Edition)

Karl Hyde and Rick Smith have been making music together since the early 1980s, and by 2018 the duo behind Underworld decided to blow up the album format entirely. Drift was their answer: a year-long experiment running from November 2018 through October 2019, releasing a new track or video almost every week, spanning five distinct episodes, archival material, remixes, and a standalone soundtrack record. It was as restless and prolific as Underworld has ever been, the sound of two musicians treating an entire calendar year as one continuous studio session.

This Sampler Edition distills that sprawling project down to two clear-pressed LPs, pulling highlights from across the series rather than presenting it chronologically. "S T A R (Rebel Tech)" brings the propulsive, body-moving pulse that's defined Underworld since their breakthrough with "Born Slippy" and Beaucoup Fish, while "Schiphol Test" and "Brilliant Yes That Would Be" lean into the more patient, ambient textures the duo has always woven alongside the dance floor material. The contrast is the point. Drift was never meant to sound like one record, and this collection captures that range without losing the thread that ties it together: two musicians, decades into their partnership, still chasing new ideas.

For longtime fans, it's a snapshot of one of the band's most unpredictable creative stretches. For newcomers, it's a far less intimidating way in than tracking down all 38 tracks and five episodes individually. Pressed on clear vinyl across two LPs, this is the most accessible physical entry point into a project that, by design, never made things easy.