A Certain Ratio share new ‘Tumba Rumba’ mix from ‘The Joy of Sextet’
A Certain Ratio share a new Emperor Machine mix of “Tumba Rumba”, from “The Joy of Sextet”, the Manchester band’s Mute companion album due August 28.
Cover art courtesy of Mute
A Certain Ratio, the Manchester post-punk and funk group, have shared a new mix of “Tumba Rumba”, built from the original session tapes by Andy Meecham of The Emperor Machine. The track appears on The Joy of Sextet, one of two anniversary companion albums the band releases on Mute on 28 August 2026.
“Tumba Rumba” originally appeared as the b-side of the 1982 Factory 7″ single “Knife Slits Water” (FAC 62). A Certain Ratio described the mix in a statement: “We are immensely proud of this song and Andy has done a great job of bringing it sonically into 2026. If it doesn’t move your feet, and expand your mind, you need to give your head a wobble.”
‘The Joy of Sextet’ and ‘Force Majeure’ companion albums
A Certain Ratio mark two anniversaries in 2026: 45 years since recording “Sextet” at Revolution Studios in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, and 40 years since the release of “Force”. “The Joy of Sextet” is a nine-track companion to the 1982 album, newly mixed by Meecham from the original 1981 two-inch multitrack tapes and featuring “Tumba Rumba”, “Knife Slits Water”, “Lucinda”, “Crystal”, “Gum”, “Day One”, “Below the Canal” and “Waterline”. The second companion, “Force Majeure”, reworks the 1986 album “Force” and adds previously unreleased versions produced by the band with the late Stuart James, including the title track “Force” that was left off the original. Both arrive on 28 August 2026 on limited coloured vinyl – “The Joy of Curacao” for “The Joy of Sextet” and “Unforced Purple” for “Force Majeure” – plus CD and digital formats. Side-Line reported on the two companion albums and their announcement in an earlier article, and the band previously worked with Meecham on his reworking of “Constant Curve” in 2023.
A Certain Ratio – Jez Kerr, Donald Johnson, Martin Moscrop and Martha “Tilly” Tilson – tour the UK in October 2026 to mark the two anniversaries, playing both albums in full; the full run of dates is listed in Side-Line’s report on “Knife Slits Water”.
About A Certain Ratio
A Certain Ratio formed in Greater Manchester in 1977, initially as a duo of vocalist Simon Topping and guitarist Peter Terrell, soon joined by bassist and vocalist Jez Kerr, guitarist and trumpeter Martin Moscrop, drummer Donald Johnson and vocalist Martha “Tilly” Tilson. The band debuted on Tony Wilson’s Factory Records in September 1979 with “All Night Party”, produced by Martin Hannett, and released the cassette-only “The Graveyard and the Ballroom” in January 1980. Early singles “Flight” and “Waterline” reached the UK Independent Chart top ten, and the band’s debut studio album, “To Each…”, topped the Independent Chart in May 1981.
“Sextet”, A Certain Ratio’s self-produced third album, followed in January 1982, drawing on the acid jazz, funk and Latin influences the band had picked up in New York; it topped the indie albums chart and reached number 55 on the UK Albums Chart. The 1982 single “Knife Slits Water” carried “Tumba Rumba” as its b-side. After Topping and Terrell left in late 1982, the group continued as Kerr, Moscrop and Johnson, releasing “Force” in November 1986, co-produced with Stuart James, which reached number two on the UK Independent Albums Chart and was the band’s last album for Factory.
A Certain Ratio subsequently recorded for A&M Records (1989-90), Rob’s Records (1991-92) and other independent labels, with reissues on Creation’s Rev-Ola imprint and Soul Jazz Records. In 2018, Mute Records began reissuing the band’s catalogue, starting with “acr:set”, followed by the 40th-anniversary box set “acr:box” in 2019. “ACR Loco” (2020) was the band’s first album of new material in twelve years, followed by “1982” (2023) and “It All Comes Down to This” (2024). “The Joy of Sextet” and “Force Majeure”, carrying the new “Tumba Rumba” mix, extend that Mute partnership into the 45th and 40th anniversaries of “Sextet” and “Force”.
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