New Forms

New Forms is the debut studio album by British drum and bass group Roni Size & Reprazent. It was originally released on 23 June 1997 through Talkin' Loud, and later re-released by Mercury Records and Universal Music Group. The album was released to critical and commercial success, winning the 1997 Mercury Prize, certifying platinum in the UK, and often being cited as their magnum opus.[1]

For the sculpture by Tony Cragg, see New Forms (sculpture).

New Forms
Studio album by
Roni Size & Reprazent
Released23 June 1997 (1997-06-23)
GenreDrum and bass
Length139:54
Label
Producer
Roni Size & Reprazent chronology
New Forms
(1997)		 In the Mode
(2000)
Singles from New Forms
  1. "Share the Fall"
    Released: 19 May 1997
  2. "Heroes"
    Released: 11 September 1997
  3. "Brown Paper Bag"
    Released: 27 October 1997
  4. "Watching Windows"
    Released: 28 April 1998

New Forms was promoted by the release of its four singles, "Share the Fall", "Heroes", "Brown Paper Bag" and "Watching Windows", all of which entered the UK Singles Chart and featured vocals from Onallee. The album features production credits from Roni Size, Krust, DJ Die and Suv.

Release

New Forms was preceded by a 1996 EP named Reasons for Sharing containing "Share the Fall", "Down", "Trust Me", and "Sounds Fresh", the former three of which were featured on the album.[2] On 19 May 1997, the album's lead single was released, "Share the Fall", which reached number 37 in the UK Singles Chart in June that year. The album was released on 23 June 1997 and charted on the UK Albums Chart for 46 weeks, peaking at number 8. Following the album, three singles were released "Heroes", "Brown Paper Bag" and "Watching Windows", all charting at positions 31, 20 and 28 respectively, with "Brown Paper Bag" remaining the group's highest-charting single.[3]

The album was released in various formats, all with differing track lists. The original album release was a two disc CD, though single disc editions only containing disc one were later released.[4] The cassette version comprised the first disc of the CD.[5] Two vinyl versions were released, a 5x and 4x LP. Of the two vinyl versions, the most common pressing is the 4LP version comprising most of the first CD; the 5×LP set includes tracks from the second CD, replacing "Intro" with "Heroes" and "Digital", which are appended to the end.[6] In the US, only the 2CD version was released, which contained the bonus track "Electricks".

A remake of the original album, New Forms², was released in April 2008. Roni Size has described it as having a "new coat of armour added to the original tracks".[7] The album contains four new songs: "Heart to Heart", "Less is More", "Don't Hold Back" and "Encore", while omitting several of the songs from the original album.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Entertainment WeeklyA[9]
The Guardian[10]
Los Angeles Times[11]
Muzik10/10[12]
NME9/10[13]
Pitchfork7.7/10[14]
Q[15]
Rolling Stone[16]
Spin8/10[17]

New Forms was released to favourable reviews. AllMusic described the album as "the major statement on drum'n'bass", rating it five stars out of five,[8] while in 2010 BBC Music noted that it "carved a mainstream niche for drum and bass like no album before it".[18] Entertainment Weekly noted the album's "caffeinated drum beat and blissful bass reverb".[9] Pitchfork's Ryan Schreiber was less generous, commenting that the album "doesn't really get decent until the second half of disc one".[14]

Track listing

The original CD release contains both discs, though a single disc version containing only disc 1 was additionally released in the UK.

Disc 1 / Cassette
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Railing"
2:05
2."Brown Paper Bag"Williams9:03
3."New Forms" (featuring Bahamadia)
7:45
4."Let's Get It On"Williams6:57
5."Digital"
9:05
6."Matter of Fact"Williams4:05
7."Mad Cat"Williams4:56
8."Heroes"
  • Williams
  • Onallee
6:35
9."Share the Fall" (Full Vocal Mix)
6:13
10."Watching Windows"
  • Williams
  • Onallee
5:33
11."Beatbox"
  • Williams
  • Southey
1:09
12."Morse Code"Williams6:58
13."Destination"
8:12
Disc 2
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Intro"Williams0:54
2."Hi-Potent"Williams6:53
3."Trust Me"Williams6:26
4."Change My Life"Williams8:27
5."Share the Fall"
  • Williams
  • Onallee
  • Kausman
  • Thompson
6:26
6."Down"
  • Williams
  • Kausman
6:51
7."Jazz"
  • Williams
  • Southey
6:04
8."Hot Stuff"
  • Williams
  • Thompson
6:32
9."Ballet Dance"
  • Williams
  • Kausman
6:41
Total length:139:54
US disc 2 bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
10."Electricks"Williams6:17
4x vinyl
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Brown Paper Bag"Williams9:03
2."New Forms" (featuring Bahamadia)
  • Williams
  • Reed
  • Southey
7:45
3."Railing"
  • Williams
  • Smith
2:05
4."Let's Get It On"Williams6:57
5."Share the Fall" (Full Vocal Mix)
  • Williams
  • Onallee
  • Kausman
  • Thompson
6:13
6."Matter of Fact"Williams4:05
7."Mad Cat"Williams4:56
8."Morse Code"Williams6:58
9."Beatbox"
  • Williams
  • Southey
1:09
10."Destination"
  • Williams
  • Onallee
  • Watt
  • Thorn
8:12
5× vinyl
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Hi-Potent"Williams6:53
2."Trust Me"Williams6:26
3."Change My Life"Williams8:27
4."Share the Fall"
  • Williams
  • Onallee
  • Kausman
  • Thompson
6:26
5."Down"
  • Williams
  • Kausman
6:51
6."Jazz"
  • Williams
  • Southey
6:04
7."Hot Stuff"
  • Williams
  • Thompson
6:32
8."Ballet Dance"
  • Williams
  • Kausman
6:41
9."Heroes" (Album Version)
  • Williams
  • Onallee
6:35
10."Digital"
  • Williams
  • Onallee
9:05
New Forms²
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Railings"
  • Williams
  • Smith
2:05
2."Brown Paper Bag"Williams3:46
3."New Forms"
  • Williams
  • Reed
  • Suv
4:47
4."Let's Get It On"Williams1:41
5."Trust Me"Williams5:03
6."Digital"
  • Williams
  • Onallee
6:35
7."Matter of Fact"Williams3:57
8."Heroes"
  • Williams
  • Onallee
4:14
9."Share the Fall" (Full Vocal Mix)
  • Williams
  • Onallee
  • Kausman
  • Thompson
6:09
10."Heart to Heart"
  • Williams
  • Onallee
4:51
11."Less Is More"
  • Williams
  • Southey
6:15
12."Down"
  • Williams
  • Kausman
5:12
13."Hi-Potent"Williams5:08
14."Don't Hold Back"
  • Williams
  • Smith
2:57
15."Beatbox"
  • Williams
  • Southey
1:09
16."Encore"Williams4:31
17."Destination"
  • Williams
  • Onallee
  • Watt
  • Thorn
3:51

Personnel

Adapted from the liner notes.[19]

  • Roni Size (Ryan Williams) – writing, production, keyboards
  • Onallee (Tracey Bowen) – vocals, writing
  • Dynamite MC (Dominic Smith) – vocals, writing
  • DJ Die (Daniel Kausman) – writing, production
  • DJ Suv (Paul Southey) – writing, production
  • Krust (Kirk Thompson) – writing, production
  • Clive Deamer – drums
  • Si John – bass
  • Bahamadia (Antonia Reed) – vocals
  • Tyrrell – guitar
  • Adrian Place – saxophone
  • Róisín Murphy - vocals (sampled)
  • Intro. London – design
  • Vikki Jackman – photography

Accolades
Accolades for New Forms
Year Organisation Award Result Ref.
1997 Mercury Prize Mercury Album of the Year Won .
[20]

Charts

Certifications
Certifications for New Forms
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[25] Platinum 300,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. "RA: Roni Size biography". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  2. Talkin' Loud (1996). Reasons for Sharing (Liner notes). Roni Size & Reprazent. Talkin' Loud.
  3. "Roni Size Reprazent - Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  4. Talkin' Loud (1997). New Forms (Single Disc) (Liner notes). Roni Size & Reprazent. Talkin' Loud. 534 934-2
  5. Talkin' Loud (1997). New Forms (Cassette) (Liner notes). Roni Size & Reprazent. Talkin' Loud. 534 933-4
  6. "Roni Size / Reprazent – New Forms (5x12", Album) at Discogs". Discogs.
  7. "Roni Size/Reprazent: New Forms 2 release + "Don't Hold Back" single". Band Weblogs. 25 March 2008. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  8. Bush, John. "New Forms – Roni Size / Roni Size & Reprazent". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  9. Sakharow, Anya (31 October 1997). "New Forms". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  10. Bennun, David (4 July 1997). "Roni Size: New Forms (Talkin' Loud)". The Guardian.
  11. Hochman, Steve (23 November 1997). "Roni Size/Reprazent, 'New Forms,' Talkin' Loud/Mercury". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  12. Newsome, Rachel (July 1997). "Reprazent Featuring Roni Size: New Forms (Talkin' Loud)". Muzik (26): 119.
  13. Newsome, Rachel. "Roni Size/Reprazent – New Forms". NME. Archived from the original on 17 August 2000. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  14. Schreiber, Ryan (November 1997). "Roni Size & Reprazent: New Forms". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 17 November 2005. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  15. Howe, Rupert (December 2017). "Roni Size/Reprazent: New Forms". Q (379): 115.
  16. Fricke, David (16 December 1997). "Roni Size and Reprazent: New Forms". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 5 June 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  17. Reynolds, Simon (December 1997). "RoniSize/Reprazent: New Forms". Spin. 13 (9): 153. ISSN 0886-3032. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  18. Diver, Mike (25 October 2010). "BBC – Music – Review of Roni Size & Reprazent – New Forms". BBC Music. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  19. Talkin' Loud (1997). New Forms (Liner notes). Roni Size & Reprazent. Talkin' Loud.
  20. "It is Size that counts as Roni wins Mercury prize". The Independent. 28 August 1997. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  21. "Roni Size - Reprazent - dutchcarts.nl". MegaCharts. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  22. "Charts.org.nz - Roni Size / Reprazent". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  23. "Roni Size/Reprazent Chart History". Billboard charts. Archived from the original on 5 July 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  24. "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 1997". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  25. "British album certifications – Roni Size/Reprazent – New Forms". British Phonographic Industry.
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