Born at an all-night squat party during the ‘90s, the group formed when charismatic frontman and co-founder Rob Spragg started singing the lyrics to a Hank Williams song over an acid-house beat. Meanwhile, other co-founder, the late Jake Black, a diehard Jazz fan, joined in with some bebop skat stylings. On that unforgettable night, the mutant embryo of Alabama 3 was conceived.

Still adored the world over the 1997 inaugural smash ‘Up This Morning, its marriage of Howlin’ Wolf samples and trip-hop beats provided the theme music for long-running HBO series The Sopranos. Alabama 3 have continued to explore their uniquely British absurdist twist on Americana since.

Driven by post-rave aesthetics, savage socio-political satire and lowlife narcotic misadventure, the band released their latest album — and their first following a turbulent few years that included the death of legendary songwriter Jake Black — Step 13 in 2021.

In 2023, A3 return with the new album Cold War Classics Vol.2. Co-produced by Danton Supple and Greg Fleming, it promises to take fans on a musical journey back in time, to the era of mutually assured destruction and pre-glasnost paranoia.

Frontman Larry Love describes the album as: “a trip to that warm place in your mind where spying on your neighbour was de rigueur and fall out shelter ballads and Checkpoint Charlie funk ruled the airwaves”. Cold War Classics Vol.2 is a testament to Alabama’s unique and innovative musical style that has captivated audiences for years.