Album: Asian Dub Foundation

Enemy of the Enemy, Labels

Things have changed since ADF released Community Music in 2000, and it's no surprise to find them tackling post-September 11 issues on Enemy of the Enemy. The title track and "Blowback" (CIA slang for the unforeseen consequences of secret operations) deal with the way America's attitude to tyrants such as Saddam and the Taliban switches "from ally to madman, from client to badman", according to short-term convenience; while the vertiginous techno hip hop of "Fortress Europe" considers the long-term social fallout of such alliances, through a dystopian sci-fi projection of a "21st-century Exodus" being brutally rebuffed by fascistic states: "Safe European homes built on wars/ You don't like the effect, don't produce the cause." Elsewhere, "Power to the Small Massive" promotes small-scale, diversified resistance; "Rise to the Challenge" advocates self-belief and interconnection; and "1000 Mirrors" (sung by Sinead O'Connor) addresses the plight of Asian women suffering domestic violence, "lost in the mirage of a marriage". As usual, the issues are tackled with fierce intelligence and rhetorical panache – the only unconvincing argument is the linkage, in "19 Rebellions", of a Brazilian jail riot with the need for "organised radical social action" outside. Musically, there's so much going on that it's hard to pin down their evolving style: a single track can shift within seconds between fast, skittering garage beats, heavy guitar rock, Indo-ragga toasting and deep dub textures. In that regard, the addition of Adrian Sherwood as a sort of sonic overseer is a master stroke: he does for ADF what the Bomb Squad did for Public Enemy.