Previewing their new 'Automated Paradise' album, Jah Wobble (Public Image Ltd) and guitarist Jon Klein (Siouxsie & The Banshees, Specimen) reveal the fire-buster 'Who Wins?', a song about distrust — about the growing sense that the grand halls of power have become echo chambers of empty promises. The question echoes long after the final note fades — we probably wouldn't like the answer.
The title itself acts as a refrain and a provocation. Who wins? Not answered outright, the song understands something important: the most powerful question in politics is often the one that leaves the listener finishing the sentence themselves. Less of a statement and more like a mirror, this song fits squarely inside the long lineage of protest music. Songs that capture a moment when the atmosphere shifts — when dissatisfaction becomes a chorus and the private complaint becomes public noise.
'Automated Paradise' is Wobble & Klein's third collaborative record and also their debut album as a duo with Dimple Discs, previewed by the motorik lead track ‘Fading Away’, pulsating with the raw electrical tension of British post-punk and new wave. These two legends first combined forces on the 'Metal Box – Rebuilt In Dub' album in 2021, they continue to collaborate live and in the studio.
"'Who Wins?' is a good old protest song, pointing fingers and making a racket! It was a bass line that turned into a metal riff. The noisier songs on this album tend to reflect on today’s information overload, where there’s no security, and people are becoming more polemic and stressed, but there seems to be a thread of hope that truth and justice will maybe prevail," says Jon Klein.
"Working with Jah Wobble is always an inspiring experience. When I started working with him in recording sessions, he often quoted the words of Holger Czukay, the bass player of German band Can: “First we play, then afterwards we talk! We like to make things happen in the moment. Often we complete a working draft to a piece of music from scratch in a few hours.”
Jah Wobble adds, "The music comes from that silent place. It’s pre-existing. You just allow it to flow... Proper post punk. Angry and humorous. Okay, it’s the end of civilisation. But nothing lasts forever right? We shouldn’t take it to heart."
This is Jah Wobble’s first post-punk album in recent years, these brash guitar-driven tracks reflecting his preoccupation with the declining state of the nation. Driven by his weekly experience with Klein, working at the "Tuned In" music community project in Merton, this record recalls the spirit of Mark Stewart - angry in an empathetic, constructive way. The lyrical content mainly came together on the spot in the studio.
This album follows two 2025 albums for Wobble - ‘Dub Volume 1' (Dimple Discs) and the expanded reissue of the 2017 album 'The Usual Suspects', featuring 25 career highlights, re-recorded and including some of Wobble’s finest material, alongside tracks by Invaders Of The Heart and PiL.
Guitarist and producer Jon Klein was a member of Siouxsie and the Banshees from 1987 until 1994 (the 'Peepshow', 'Superstition' and 'The Rapture' era). Originally in the Bristol band Europeans, he then formed the glam-goth act Specimen and relocated to London, where he co-founded The Batcave nightclub. He has worked with Talvin Singh and Sinéad O'Connor, and co-produced a string of No. 1 albums for Warner-signed Fangoria, fueling a decade-long streak of chart-topping success in Spain.
Born John Wardle, bassist and vocalist Jah Wobble is from East London. An original member of Public Image Ltd (PiL) from 1978-80, he made two seminal albums with the band, including the iconic ‘Metal Box’. Wobble formed Invaders of the Heart in 1982, collaborating with Can's Holger Czukay, Jaki Liebezeit, U2's The Edge and producer François Kevorkian. By the 1990s, he was well known, had chart success and a Mercury Music Prize nomination for the album ‘Rising Above Bedlam'. After releasing the top-40 album ‘Take Me To God’ and then ‘Heaven and Earth' via Island Records, Wardle fled record company constraints to more experimental recordings.
Wobble has collaborated with Sinéad O’Connor, Massive Attack, Ginger Baker, Björk, Brian Eno and Pharoah Sanders, was part of the supergroup The Damage Manual, worked with Julie Campbell aka LoneLady on ‘Psychic Life’, and with his wife Zi Lan Liao on the album ‘Chinese Dub, winning the Songlines Magazine World Music Award. He also plays and records with his sons Charlie and John Wardle in Tian Qiyi. 2024 brought his 'Timeless Roots' album with Horace Andy, followed by 2025's 'Old Fashioned Ways' album with Jamaica's Ken Boothe. Wobble played on Richard Russell’s album ‘Everything is Recorded' (notably ‘Losing You’ feat. Sampha).
Wobble published his autobiography ‘Memoirs of a Geezer: Music, Life, Mayhem’ via Serpent’s Tail in 2009, following his 2008 radio documentary on Sid Vicious for BBC Radio 3. 30 Hertz Records, the independent label Wobble launched in 1997, still releases music in collaboration with Cherry Red, including 'Dark Luminosity – The 21st Century Collection' and 'In Dub II: Deluxe'.
On March 27, 'Automatic Paradise' is available on CD and transparent vinyl, limited to 800 copies. The digital download can be pre-ordered via Bandcamp. Jah Wobble & The Invaders Of The Heart continue touring the UK in 2026, for which tickets are available at https://jahwobble.com/#live
CREDITS
'Fading Away' written by Jah Wobble, John Tian Chi Wardle & Jon Klein
'Who Wins?' written by Jah Wobble, Izumi Karaage & Jon Klein
Jah Wobble - bass & vocals
Jon Klein - guitar, synthesizer, backing vocals & programming
Izumi Karaage - drums on 'Who Wins?'
John Tian Chi Wardle - drums on 'Fading Away'
Keiko Yamazaki - backing vocals on 'Fading Away'
Produced by Jah Wobble & Jon Klein
Engineered & mixed by Jon Klein at Tuned In Studio & Ground Control.
Mastered by Anthony Chapman
Cover artwork & design by Jah Wobble
Released by Dimple Discs
Barcode 5052571225325
Vinyl catalogue ID #DEEDEE081LP / CD catalogue ID #DEEDEE081CD
Live photos by Fergus Kelly / Room Temperature
Other photos by Peter McDowell
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR
JAH WOBBLE & THE INVADERS OF THE HEART - TOUR DATES
Mar. 28 BUTLIN'S SKEGNESS - Shiine On Weekender 2026
Apr. 02 WIMBORNE MINSTER - Tivoli Theatre
Apr. 03 TOTNES - Barrel House
Apr. 04 CARDIFF - Clwb Ifor Bach
Apr. 10 STOKE ON TRENT - Artisan Tap
Apr. 11 DARWEN - Library Theatre
Apr. 25 GWYNEDD - Neuadd Ogwen
May 15 CAMBERLEY - Login Lounge
May 30 LYME REGIS - Marine Theatre
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