Portion Control share ‘Tex-Mex’ ahead of Artoffact box set
Portion Control release “Tex-Mex”, the second single from their Artoffact box set “1983-86 – Hit The Pulse to Purge”, out 14 August 2026.
British electro-industrial group Portion Control have released “Tex-Mex (Live at Dolce Vita, Lausanne 6/12/85)“, the second single from their archival box set “1983-86 – Hit The Pulse to Purge…“, out 14 August 2026 on Artoffact Records. The set collects the London group’s mid-1980s work across a 4xCD box, a digital edition and a limited red vinyl LP.
You can stream and pre-order the box set through the Bandcamp player below.
Portion Control detail ‘Tex-Mex’ and the box set
“Tex-Mex” was recorded in December 1985 at the Dolce Vita in Lausanne, a Swiss venue that had opened earlier that year, and the performance was filmed. The band trace the track back to their studio sessions of the period rather than the stage. “‘Tex-Mex’ was recorded as part of the ‘..Step Forward’ recording sessions at Guerilla Studios in Little Venice, London,” the band recall. “It was where William Orbit had his recording base at the time and we utilised a lot of the equipment he had set up there for his own early electronic work.” A video for the single accompanies the release.
The box set, “1983-86 – Hit The Pulse to Purge…”, gathers 77 tracks. It brings together the 1983 mini-LP “Hit The Pulse”, the albums “..Step Forward” (1984) and “Psycho Bod Saves The World” (1986), the 12-inch singles “The Great Divide”, “Go-Talk” and “Raise The Pulse”, and the “Purge” EP (1986), alongside B-sides, compilation tracks, rarities, remixes, demos and two live recordings, from Amsterdam in 1984 and Lausanne in 1985. Paul Lavigne remastered all 77 tracks at Kontrast Mastering; 16 are previously unreleased and a further 12 appear on CD and digital for the first time. The 4xCD edition comes in a five-panel ecopak with a 24-page booklet designed by Stefan Alt of Ant-Zen, and the red vinyl LP carries ten key tracks.
“Tex-Mex” follows “Refugee”, a version reworked by Rhys Fulber of Front Line Assembly that Portion Control issued as the first single in June 2026. The reissue campaign continues the group’s move to Artoffact, which began when Portion Control joined Artoffact Records and released the “SEED EP3.1” EP in December 2025.
About Portion Control
Portion Control formed in London in 1979 and built a raw, minimal sound around sequenced synthesisers, samplers and strident vocals. Their early records – the 1982 debut album “I Staggered Mentally”, the “Hit The Pulse” mini-LP (1983) and the second album “..Step Forward” (1984) – placed them among the pioneers of hard-edged electronic dance music, and the group supported Depeche Mode on tour in 1984. Their use of early sampling and drum-machine technology fed into the work of later acts including Nitzer Ebb, Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly, Nine Inch Nails and Orbital.
After a hiatus that began in the late 1980s, Portion Control returned in 2004 with “Wellcome”, followed by “Filthy White Guy” (2006), “Pure Form” (2012) and the run of “SEED” EPs between 2020 and 2025. The group signed to Artoffact Records in late 2025, and the label is now reissuing their catalogue as a series of box sets. “1983-86 – Hit The Pulse to Purge…” is the first of those sets, and “Tex-Mex” is the second single drawn from it.
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