Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja has said that the group turned down an invitation to play at next year’s Coachella festival, citing the event’s environmental impact as the reason.

Speaking to NME in a recent interview, he said the festival was a burden on local water supplies due to its desert location. “We said no to Coachella for next year,” Del Naja is quoted as saying. “We’ve been there once, and once was enough.

“It’s in Palm Springs. It’s a golf resort built on a desert, run on a sprinkler system, using public water supplies. Mental. If you want to see something that’s the most ludicrous bit of human behaviour – it’s right there.”

Elsewhere in the interview, he spoke at length about Massive Attack’s various ecological touring initiatives, and also added that they would be releasing new music next year.

Earlier this year, the band put on a special climate-action concert in Bristol, which aimed to be the “lowest carbon show of its size ever staged”.

In June, Del Naja featured in a video online in which he read a letter written by a doctor based in Gaza, as part of the Voices For Gaza initiative.