“London Zoo was very much a reflection of my disillusionment with, and my love affair with London, simultaneously. It was near to a time where I'd been living in the studio for about 7 years – it had no kitchen, no shower. It was a very overcrowded, over-machined room in a dire area of London.” Speaking from his home in Berlin – he moved there a year ago – Kevin Martin, better known as The Bug, is reflecting on the genesis of his second album under that alias. Released by Ninja Tune at the height of dubstep's ascendancy towards mainstream success and commodification, it was always going to be a hard act to follow – with iconic tracks like Skeng and Poison Dart booming out of speakers upand down the country and worldwide, the suffering and deprivation that informed the righteous anger of London Zoo might have been transfigured into industry gold, but for Martin, he was still living in the nightmarish dystopia the album described.

“It was a very oppressive atmosphere,” he continues. “I'd had my fill of the city at that time. Personally, I think all of the best music is a reflection of a time and place. With music, most people buy into either a fantasy, or into a harsh reality. London Zoo was a harsh reality for me, at that time. I think I'd lived in London for about 23 years, and always in the poorest areas, so London was always a struggle. It just became even more so, until the point