No Tourists is the seventh studio album by the English electronic music band the Prodigy, released on November 2, 2018, on Take Me to the Hospital, their independent label managed by BMG.
The song originated as a remix that Howlett had agreed to produce for them, but the two parties decided to include it on No Tourists as it matched the "feel and flow" of the album.
[4] Despite their original intention to create an EP with various collaborators, including Dizzee Rascal, and to resume touring, Howlett noticed that the subsequent writing sessions produced strong enough material at a faster pace compared to previous Prodigy records, which influenced the decision to commit to a full album.
[5][4][6] In September 2017, the band announced that they had signed a recording deal with BMG Rights Management, granting them the green light to produce a new studio album.
[9] Howlett focused on the new songs with their live performance as a priority in terms of style and arrangement, aiming to include "every angle that's good about the band" in the music.
[6] The group continued to work on the album while on tour, which included a session where Howlett aimed to capture Flint's vocals for "Champions of London" in a hotel room in Belgium after a particularly high-energy gig, utilizing portable recording equipment they traveled with.
[12] In March 2018, during the group's tour of Russia, Howlett set up a studio base in Moscow and returned to the facility after subsequent gigs to continue working on his new ideas.
The Prodigy planned to support No Tourists with a world tour starting in November 2018, which included dates in the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the US.
[11][16] On March 4, 2019, frontman Keith Flint was found dead at his home in Essex,[17] just weeks after performing six live dates in Australia and New Zealand.
For better or worse, there aren't many new ideas here, but main man Liam Howlett is so adept at crafting explosive body-shakers that the lack of fresh concepts can be overlooked.
"[34] Mojo reviewer Ben Thompson also gave the album three stars out of five, pointing out that following an "unconvincing stab at collective irresponsibility" on The Day Is My Enemy, the latest effort from the band "marks a welcome return to unenlightened despotism."
While he believed "Need Some1" would satisfy the band's hardcore fans, he noted that "much of what follows sounds like he's set his overdriven synths to autopilot," with contributions from Flint and Maxim "reduced to the odd irate interjection."