Rudimental: Home
Last year, the good vibes of “Feel the Love” flooded the dance floor and the charts. On Rudimental’s first CD, Home, there is even more streetwise soul to loosen up your hips in the commercial jungle.
CD | Rudimental ●●
Home soul/dance (Asylum/Warner)
There was a fear that effects wrapped in thick layers of euphoria – the sound that characterises most chart hits these days were also clearly discernible on “Feel the Love” sung by John Newman – would reign triumphant. But fortunately, the London-based post-dubstep quartet – a bassist, a drummer, a keyboard player, and a DJ – is smarter than that. The Gnarls Barkley-esque vocal parts and hooks, but especially also the brass solo that suddenly appears into the second minute of “Feel the Love” allayed our fears to some extent: Rudimental is grounded. Despite its commercial success, the collective is firmly anchored in East London urban culture – the graffiti wall on the record cover is in Hackney, where the band members hail from and this album was recorded. Childhood friends Piers Agget and Kesi Dryden both have producers’ degrees and know how to blend electronic dubstep rhythms, drum ‘n’ bass, and house with vintage R&B grooves. Add to that bassist Amir Amor’s love of Marvin Gaye and the result is an organic gem that is only missing one thing: a more careful balance between the club-oriented, explosive tracks, with their pumping basses and direct effect, and the more introspective songs that are slower to start, like the R&B ballad “Hide”, or “Free”, a track Emeli Sandé takes in tow.
Home soul/dance (Asylum/Warner)
There was a fear that effects wrapped in thick layers of euphoria – the sound that characterises most chart hits these days were also clearly discernible on “Feel the Love” sung by John Newman – would reign triumphant. But fortunately, the London-based post-dubstep quartet – a bassist, a drummer, a keyboard player, and a DJ – is smarter than that. The Gnarls Barkley-esque vocal parts and hooks, but especially also the brass solo that suddenly appears into the second minute of “Feel the Love” allayed our fears to some extent: Rudimental is grounded. Despite its commercial success, the collective is firmly anchored in East London urban culture – the graffiti wall on the record cover is in Hackney, where the band members hail from and this album was recorded. Childhood friends Piers Agget and Kesi Dryden both have producers’ degrees and know how to blend electronic dubstep rhythms, drum ‘n’ bass, and house with vintage R&B grooves. Add to that bassist Amir Amor’s love of Marvin Gaye and the result is an organic gem that is only missing one thing: a more careful balance between the club-oriented, explosive tracks, with their pumping basses and direct effect, and the more introspective songs that are slower to start, like the R&B ballad “Hide”, or “Free”, a track Emeli Sandé takes in tow.
It is in Rudimental’s favour that they have predominantly brought in relatively unknown vocalists. Home is not only launching their own career, but also that of, for example, Angel Haze, an energetic MC from Michigan who in “Hell Could Freeze” interjects a sensual soul refrain between all the lightning raps.
21/5, 20.00, SOLD OUT!, Ancienne Belgique
21/5, 20.00, SOLD OUT!, Ancienne Belgique
Read more about: Muziek
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