WILLIAM ORBIT

THE PRODUCER OF LANDMARK MUSIC FOR MADONNA, ALL SAINTS, BLUR, PINK AND BRITNEY SPEARS, MAVERICK MUSICIAN WILLIAM ORBIT ENJOYED AN INFLUENTIAL CAREER AS AN AMBIENT PIONEER, CLASSICAL REINVENTOR AND RAVE MAINSTAY. THEN HE ENDURED A CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE AND DRUG-INDUCED BREAKDOWN. AFTER EIGHT YEARS AWAY, WILLIAM IS BACK AND FINALLY READY TO ENJOY HIS SUCCESS. “I’M A POP TART FOR DIVAS” HE REVEALS...

JOHN EARLS

Back into Orbit: The uber-producer returns with his first studio album since 2014… The Painter finds him working on a new canvas

I’m coming in from the cold,” announces William Orbit, as he prepares to release his first album for eight years. Aware of the difference between his success as a megastar producer for the likes of Madonna, Blur and Britney Spears, and the eclectic nature of his career in ambient, rave and classical music, William smiles: “People always introduce me as: ‘He’s sold x million records,’ but my own music is pretty niche. I’ve put myself in a slightly crass position with my new record, though, of thinking I’d like to get people to hear my stuff beyond the niche.”

His career stats make for impressive reading, with 200 million records sold. Pink, All Saints, Robbie Williams, U2, Betty Boo, Beth Orton and Katie Melua have all enjoyed the help of a producer whose ability to capture joy and transcendence in music is unparalleled in virtually any era, but whose distinctive trance beats defined late-90s and early-00s pop thanks to Ray Of Light and Pure Shores. However, since releasing classical album Orbit Symphonic, ambient record Strange Cargo 5 and remixing Queen, all in 2014, William disappeared.

Previously a scrupulous workaholic in the studio, Orbit decided to try cocaine for the first time at a party and found he had a horrifically addictive appetite for drugs. He was eventually sectioned. “I’ve been well again for two years,” William smiles. “I’d need to check my diary for an exact timeframe, but I had a moment of thinking: ‘Right, that was Part One of my life.’ I’m not afraid of anything, but I won’t be going back there again.”

It’s too easy to state that Orbit’s new album The Painter is the result of cleaning his life up. That sonic euphoria is back in full effect, helped by guest vocalists including Polly Scattergood, Ali Love, prodigious pop artist Georgia, pioneering Colombian singer Lido Pimentia, Ghanaian songwriter Gloria Kaba and a sample of late influential Tanzanian musician Hukwe Zawose, as well as previous musical partners Orton, Melua and Laurie Mayer.

William emphasises he’d continued to work during the bad times, stating: “I was never more than 20 yards away from my rig, and I went up a lot of blind alleys. I lost my confidence, but music was always forming. It wasn’t like I suddenly decided: ‘I’m going back into the game and start with a blank sheet.’”