A Certain Ratio - Force Majeure (Unforced Purple Vinyl)

A Certain Ratio - Force Majeure is a newly assembled companion to the Manchester group’s influential 1986 album Force, presented here on Unforced Purple vinyl. Rather than simply repeating the familiar album, this release opens the archive and shows how the material existed before its final shape was fixed. It offers a different route through a key period in A Certain Ratio’s history and gives long-time listeners the opportunity to hear the record’s ideas from a fresh angle.

The album gathers unreleased original versions of tracks associated with Force, including material that differs substantially from the 1986 release. Most notably, the title track “Force” appears here despite never being included on the original album. The sequence also revisits “Only Together”, “Bootsy”, “Naked and White”, “And Then She Smiles”, “Take Me Down”, “Anthem”, “The Runner” and “Nostromo A Go Go”. Heard together, these versions underline the band’s ability to move between post-punk tension, funk-driven rhythm and open-ended studio experimentation.

A Certain Ratio have always resisted easy classification. Their music emerged from Manchester’s post-punk environment but quickly absorbed dance music, jazz, dub, electronics and the physical pulse of funk. Force Majeure captures that restless approach at a moment when the group were refining one of their most significant records. The performances feel exploratory without losing momentum, and the alternative arrangements reveal details that can be obscured by familiarity with the finished album.

This edition includes extensive sleeve notes by A Certain Ratio alongside photographs selected from the band’s archive. The additional material gives context to the sessions and makes the release feel like a considered archival project rather than a routine reissue. It is issued alongside The Joy of Sextet, the companion release revisiting the group’s earlier Sextet recordings.

Pressed on Unforced Purple vinyl, Force Majeure is a strong choice for collectors of A Certain Ratio, Factory-era Manchester music, post-punk, experimental funk and archival studio recordings. This is a pre-order for release on 28 August 2026.