Robert Hood revives his Monobox alias for new EP ‘Forwardbase Kodai’

Project inspired by Hood”s teenage alien sci-fi reading

Techno legend Robert Hood is back with a new EP under his old Monobox alias, ahead of his new album this coming November.

The ‘Forwardbase Kodai’ EP is scheduled for release on 29th October 2021, and pre-dates the upcoming ‘Regenerate’ album on November 26. Both projects are to be released on Hood’s own label M-Plant.

The EP contains several album tracks, as well as two new tracks not included on the album. On top of this, it features a remix by London producer Ø [Phase], and finally, a special Robert Hood ‘Re-Plant’ edit – a remix project Hood hasn’t returned to since remixing Mark Broom’s ‘Frontline’ EP in 2015.

Hood is an internationally successful producer and DJ, known for both his solo work and releases alongside his daughter Lyric as Floorplan. Originally launched in 1996, his Monobox project spanned a trio of EPs released on M-Plant, culminating in several landmark albums including 2003’s ‘Molecule’, as well as remixes for fellow artists like Ricardo Villalobos and Matthew Dear.

Briefly, Hood returned to the project in 2014 as part of M-Plant’s 20th anniversary, which saw the release of a new Monobox 12″, ‘Film / Rectangle’.

The original approach to Monobox was minimal techno, from an alien, futurist perspective. A central concept behind the Monobox project is the idea of an old vessel lying dormant for 40 or 50 years (the length of time that roughly spans Hood’s interest and subsequent music career) that is only now awakening. 

Speaking to Red Bull Music Academy that year, Robert said: “Monobox was an alien project. I read this book when I was probably around 13 or 14. It was this ominous black box that came from some other universe, and it was just sort of hovering over the planet, over a cornfield somewhere.”

The ‘Regenerate’ album will follow the EP, which is intended to be an immersive experience taking place over the course of seven tracks. The tracklists for the EP and album are as follows:

1. Forwardbase Kodai 

2. Forwardbase Kodai (Ø [Phase] Remix) 

3. Forwardbase Kodai (Robert Hood Re-Plant) 

4. Homestead 

1. Rise 

2. Blackwater Canal 

3. Wargames 

4. Angel City 

5. Exoplanet 

6. Drydock 

7. Regenerate

‘Forwardbase Kodai’ EP will be released via M-Plant on October 29, 2021.