The oft-used phrase “Hackney drum & bass band Rudimental” is misleading. It sets the listener off on the wrong foot. Anyone up for a “Hackney drum and bass band” would likely want something with serious bite - big, bad and boomin’. I know I would. This is not what Rudimental are, as anyone who’s heard their chart-topping hits and debut album will attest. Their second album journeys even further away from such a description.
In Autumn 2011 a shrewd trio of young Hackney DJ-musicians approached the successful producer Amir Amor, a man who already owned a Hoxton production house and had worked with Jamelia, N-Dubz and others. When he joined them the hits started coming, feel-good bass-pop that borrowed from East London’s rave heritage but also rendered it sweeter than jalebi. They made John Newman and Ella Eyre stars and sealed their rep with a crowd-pleasing festival show.
The best material on their new album, however, is not their drum & bass tendency. The songs in this vein overdo the dynamics, underdo the drum & bass, and are all stapled to samey, euphoric fizz-pop. It all sounds by-rote, with neither the likeable cheek of Rizzle Kicks nor the tough-edged energy Chase & Status occasionally muster. The affected stadium rock-soul vocals from Foy Vance, Will Heard, Ella Eyre and, God help us, Ed Sheeran, do not help.
Far preferable is the material where Rudimental explore their capabilities, such as the garage groove of “Rumour Mill” and the deep house nu-soul of “Foreign World”, both sung by Ann-Marie, once a child star of West End musicals. Especially good is the Latin-jazz gem “Needn’t Speak” fronted by Lianne La Havas and coming on like Astrid Gilberto. Other worthwhile material includes the bouncy title track, featuring delicious trombone, another smoothly funky La Havas cut, “Breathe”, the spiky electro-blues of “New Day” with the late Bobby Womack, and the bubbly, cheesy Dreadzone-alike closer “System”, featuring Max Romeo and Earl 16. These tracks save We The Generation although, by way of retro comparison, Rudimental's vibe is still closer to the slick entertainment of M-People than the rootsy buzz of early Massive Attack.
Overleaf: Watch the video for "Never Let You Go" featuring Foy Vance
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