Mark Van Hoen’s project Locust has been in existence since the early 1990s and their latest line-up began to take shape in 2024. The new Locust played their first show in 2025, the first show back since opening for Massive Attack in the 90s, and since then they have fleshed out new material for a new album, Spectral+, with parts added as developed onstage. It will arrive on September 11, 2026, via TODO Records.

The album features some guests, including rapper Griff Spex, who appears on two tracks, including the recently released single “Soul Sky”.

Van Hoen comments:

He contacted me because he loved my very early music – the first album. His own music has an industrial electronic edge to it. He’s from Queens, close to the home of rap music – he’s a real New Yorker and likes investigating different styles of music.

What has gratified Van Hoen about playing live with Locust over the last several months is the demographic of their audience, many of whom are under 30. 

He says:

It’s a phenomenon of what’s been happening on the internet. I guess it’s the same as what happened to the Krautrockers when they found themselves discovered by a younger generation. The good will out.