After the release of its debut LP, ‘Inside The Sun,’ ever-evolving electronic-soul collective InkProject will drop its second full-length album, Satellite On, onMarch 13 via the UK’s Blind Colour label.

Featuring the distinctive vocals of long-term collaborator Melanie Dymond, Trinidadian-born Coreysan, a guest appearance from evocative Chinese songstress FiFi Rong, and a mix of electronic percussion, bass, theremin, keys, fx and psychedelic electronics, Brighton-based producer Jez Lloyd‘s rich tapestry of drum machine sequences, movie soundtrack snippets, symphonic string scores, and sine-wave bass murmurs underpin the lyrical themes concerning modern day life, love, hate, relationships, change, reflection, surveillance societies, and alien existence.

We caught up with Jez to find out more about InkProject’s intriguing new album.

Tell us a bit about your musical upbringing and influences, the evolution of InkProject, and the completion of ‘Satellite On.’ How did it all come together and what’s been your general approach?

We started InkProject formally back in 2010 and it’s always been about writing and placing basic song structures against a backdrop of different production styles that we love and study, and are somehow able to naturally translate via technology into finished recordings. I try to borrow elements of drum and bass, soul, techno, reggae, ambient, blues, funk, disco, or whatever musical twist might have left some kind of positive impression on me. It’s always felt a bit like trying to complete a series of jigsaw puzzles. Sometimes I wonder why I didn’t just become another rock guitarist—although, growing up on the edges of multi-cultural South London that was never going to happen. I was just like any other bored suburban kid really. A rocker turned raver with a love of down-tempo and black music. At the age of 18, I had the choice of jumping on a train to go and watch a top rock act at The Marquee or Astoria, drinking cider at a goth club, record shopping for house and techno at the now legendary Big Apple records in Croydon, a reggae sound system clash in Brixton, grooving to the fresh sounds of dubstep at FWD, or raving at an illegal East London squat party or club like The End in Charing Cross Road. We were spoilt. Like kids in a candy store and it all had a huge influence on my subconscious—musically and culturally. Being an electronic producer seemed like the best approach to fuse all of the music I was absorbing in London and being creative in the studio has always been a great way to escape the hum-drum of everyday life. My friend once called me ‘a musical bag lady’ which I wouldn’t disagree with! Anyway, I eventually decided to create a live electronic project with vocals, so I hooked up with Melanie Dymond and soon we were getting demos down and playing live shows all over the UK—from Bristol to Liverpool, not really having the slightest clue what we were doing or where it was going.

That then progressed into more bookings across Europe in 2012 and after a little break during which I collaborated with the likes of James Blake and Bugz In The Attic, amongst others, we thought it’d be more interesting to expand InkProject into a loose collective, bringing in other vocalists and instrumentalists from a variety of backgrounds. So I’ve recently been writing with Coreysan and FiFi Rong who some may know has worked with the likes of Tricky before. It’s been really inspiring and satisfying to work with such astounding talent. I’ve learnt so much about production, songwriting, and the music business over the last 5-6 years and am incredibly grateful to everyone involved. I’ve always seen music as the most powerful art form and a universal language for everyone to tap into and enjoy on all kinds of levels so I’m just thankful that it plays such an important part in my life.

Is it true that you also run the Blind Colour label?

Yes and we’ve so far released all of our own music through the label. This has been both a blessing and a curse because the workload has been huge and we don’t quite have the same reach as some of the larger indie labels—although we’ve managed to retain full creative control and release the music we want, when we want. Outside of InkProject, we’ve also put out music from Throwing Snow, Dom from Submotion Orchestra, Red Snapper, Evil Nine, Asa, Rounds, Nate Connelly, and FiFi Rong, with more artists expected to come onboard during 2016 and beyond.

You can stream the entire album in the player below. Be sure to check out more from Ink Project by visiting its SoundCloud page here.