ICYMI, last week British drum and bass foursome Rudimental announced their highly anticipated sophomore album, We The Generation, due September 18th (Major Toms/Big Beat). The album serves as the follow up to their critically acclaimed debut record, Home which hit No. 1 in the UK following it’s April 2013 release. While a new album announcement is always fun, everybody’s favorite Hackney-born electronic-beatmasters (AKA Amir Amor, Piers Agget, Kesi Dryden and DJ Locksmith) didn’t stop there, unveiling the video for lead single, “Never Let You Go,” featuring the vocal talents of Irish singer/songwriter Foy Vance. Check that out below.
[youtube=https://youtu.be/0TtA_oP1zoE]
The inspiring visual for “Never Let You Go” was directed by Nez and shot all over the globe including in the UK, Morocco, Ukraine and Los Angeles. The clip shows people of all ages, and representing a myriad of cultures—EACH painted in different, vibrant color, representing a cross-section of humanity–both the good and the bad. The message of the video is one of unity, depicted when all of these bright colors come together as one. POWERFUL. Nothing better than music with a message. The single and video both provide insight as far as what we can expect when We The Generation drops this autumn.
What else can we expect to hear on this album? First, let’s talk collaborations. Rudimental is one of those acts with a knack for finding and cultivating talent and catapulting these artists into the pop/dance music stratosphere. With their first record, we heard a delicious sampling of British talent, including Emeli Sandé, Ella Eyre, Foxes, Becky Hill, Sinead Harnett PLUS we were introduced to the soulful sounds of John Newman, not once but TWICE, including on the No. 1 hit single, “Feel The Love.” This time around we have CHOONS from promising up & comers like Mahalia, Anne-Marie and Will Heard, as well as some seasoned UK pop music veterans such as Lianne La Havas, Foy Vance, MNEK, Ella Eyre and the late great Bobby Womack (one of the last tracks he recorded for he passed away last summer). Sounds like another No. 1 record if you ask me. According to the press release;
“The forthcoming sophomore LP, “WE THE GENERATION” marks a progressive Rudimental, a genre-defying collective that will continue to change the face of dance music not just within the UK music scene but globally.”
Rudimental‘s debut album, Home lead with the John Newman-assisted single “Feel The Love,” back in 2012 which gave the boys their first No. 1 on the UK Singles chart with over 90,000 copies sold in the first week. IMPRESSIVE to say the least. Home went on to earn the band a Mercury Prize nomination, not to mention a BRIT Award for British Single—”Waiting All Night” featuring the lovely and talented Ella Eyre (another UK act I’m desperate to see come play America). Collectively, Rudimental have gone on to sell well over 5 million singles worldwide. Not only that, but their award-winning videos have garnered an impressive 238.7 million views on their YouTube channel. They’re live act is also supposed to be INCREDIBLE (SO bummed I missed their Governors Ball set), opening for Ed Sheeran on his recent arena tour as well as playing festivals all over the place including Bonnaroo, coming up on June 11th. Rudimental is DEFINITELY on my MUST-SEE-LIVE list so hopefully I’ll catch them next time they swing through New York City.
Pre-order We The Generation on iTunes (Deluxe | Standard) and snag the new single, “Never Let You Go” (iTunes).
Tracklisting
- I Will For Love (feat. Will Heard)
- Never Let You Go (feat. Foy Vance)
- We The Generation (feat. Mahalia)
- Love Ain’t Just A Word
- Rumour Mill (feat. Anne-Marie & Will Heard)
- Common Emotion (feat. MNEK)
- Go Far (feat. Will Heard)
- Foreign World (feat. Anne-Marie)
- Too Cool (feat. Ella Eyre)
- Bloodstream
- All That Love
- Needn’t Speak (feat. Lianne La Havas)
- Lay It All On Me
- New Day (feat. Bobby Womack)
DELUXE Tracklisting
- Treading On Water (feat. Sinead Harnett & Will Heard)
- Run (feat. Will Heard)
- Breath (feat. Lianne La Havas)
- System (feat. Max Romeo, Earl 16 & Spee)
Check Out Rudimental Online
Official Site | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Instagram | SoundCloud