Amon Tobin’s new album ISAM – set to street on May 23rd – was recently leaked by a journalist who shall “remain nameless.” While this is surely a disappointing blow to Ninja Tune, who undoubtedly had a pristine launch plan for the release, they’ve handled it with class. Instead of lashing out by finger-pointing said taboo-breaker (seriously, faceless journalist! shame on you!) they’ve opted to soft-launch the album by taking pre sales and streaming the album in full via soundcloud. Props to Ninja Tune for staying classy. And YAY! A new Amon Tobin album! Listen to it here, but visit the official website to order the album, t-shirt, artwork and such from Ninja Tune.

THE NOTE FROM NINJA TUNE

On the one hand, we are VERY EXCITED to tell you that you can now listen to ISAM and get the download NOW.

But wasn’t ISAM supposed to be out in May? Why are there not nice photos of the new T-shirt, Limited Edition Art book and so on?

The frustration is real for us here at ATHQ and our partners at Ninja Tune say it best:

Try as we might to protect our artists’ recordings until they’re ready to be released, create exciting campaigns to expose the leftfield/ interesting/ worthwhile music that we believe in, to the widest audience and on some of the smallest budgets, and sell enough records to keep doing so; some people just don’t get it. A nameless person who calls himself a journalist has decided that he, not us, is best placed to release the new Amon Tobin album, and to do so for free, online. We know these things happen, and we know that not everyone realises how much is invested in ambitious, groundbreaking tours, collaborations with brilliant artists and lovingly designed packaging… It still hurts. The man is not having it stuck to him. A faceless corporation is not being dealt a blow. All that happens is a lot of great ideas and music come under threat.

All of which is a long and frustrated way of saying that we’re moving forward the digital release of Amon Tobin’s masterpiece; ‘ISAM’. We know that for the fans who’ve taken the time to unearth music made for reasons other than pure commerce, hearing an album is available without actually hearing it is a slap in the face. We’d like everyone who’s invested that time and energy on the career of an artist like Amon Tobin to have the chance to own the album, in the form he and us intended, as soon as anyone else does. We’re sure you’ll see why we took so much care over it in the first place.

Jason for Amon Tobin HQ