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"London is there for the taking. A rich city -
food, women, gold. My men have come a long way for
this. I say we take London - now!" So goes the opening
gambit of the new Herbaliser album, a statement of
intent if ever there was one. So how do they plan to
take the capital? By stealth, it seems, and by way of
worming their way into every musical genre
imaginable.
They might be known as a hip hop act but it's soon
clear the duo of Jake Wherry and Ollie
Teeba can apply themselves to cinematic funk, jazz
and even gangster rap, although it has to be said some
excursions are more effective than others.
Long time collaborator Jean Grae returns to
contribute four tracks, and her deceptively lazy style
of rapping is as well acquitted to the bold Nah' Mean,
Nah'm' Sayin' as it is to the quasi-lullaby Close Your
Eyes. Roots Manuva, too, returns to the fold
for Lord Lord, his immediately recognisable tones
almost wounded here as he prowls like a hurt animal.
The brash single Generals suddenly sounds out of place
in this company, and where its multitude of upfront
vocalists was thrilling it now sounds
over-aggressive.
In between albums Wherry and Teeba have been busy
providing theme music for the Playstation and
Motorola, not to mention Guy Ritchie's Snatch. On the
evidence of two tracks here they could be up for a lot
more soon, as they would fit perfectly into any US
detective movie. Geddim is the most immediate, a
superb piece of funk led by the piano's left hand.
Gadget Funk is almost as good, its opening build up
paced to perfection before a brassy explosion.
Elsewhere the duo are proficient in nocturnal,
smoke screened music, with Close Your Eyes,
Sonofanuthamutha and Song For Mary the pick of the bunch. They
close with a tribute to Serge Gainsbourg, a monologue
from guest Katerine.
It's all very well having a multitude of musical
personalities, but do they all hang together to make a
coherent record? At first the answer would have to be
no, but after repeat listening the structure appears
to make sense. You do, however, need to be broad of
musical mind to appreciate the extremes of Generals
and Close Your Eyes, but you can be pretty sure there
will be something to take your fancy here, something
to elicit a reaction rather than pass by unnoticed.
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