The title of Rudimental’s second album,We The Generation, could be seen as a nod towards the widely receptive tastes of today’s youth.
Released at the start of October, the recordis rooted in the pop realm, but the band hasn’t restricted itself in terms of stylistic influences. Frenetic breakbeats and drum and bass grooves sit next to arena pop choruses, R&B melodies and flirtations with everything from house to reggae. A similar expansiveness characterised the London collective’s 2013 debut, Home, and it’s indicative of the four members’ musical outlooks.
“We grew up listening to music from various backgrounds and various influences, and that’s shaped us as musicians and as a band and as producers,” says co-founder Kesi Dryden. “We grew up in East London, and we had the whole drum and bass culture going on and jungle culture and there was a big house scene going on, and then the garage and grime influence as well. But then at the same time we’d come home and our parents would be listening to soul music and Motown and funk and reggae. It’s basically a snapshot of what we grew up with that all shapes the Rudimental sound.”
In the wake of Home’s release, Rudimental became global pop stars, topping the album charts in the UK and Australia, scooping up Best British Single at the Brit Awards for ‘Waiting All Night’ and nabbing a coveted Mercury Prize nomination. The debut album’s pervasive impact saw the band spend the last couple of years on a blockbuster world tour, which itself left an imprint on the new record.
“We The Generation is kind of a snapshot of us being on the road the last three years,” says Dryden. “We’ve been all around the world writing the album. We didn’t have six months to a year to be in the studio – we’ve literally been doing shows, getting offstage, going into the studio the next day. So we’ve had studios in South Africa, we’ve had studios in America, we’ve had studios all around Europe, we’ve been in Jamaica in the studio. So the new album’s a snapshot of all the influences we had from childhood growing up, and all the influences we’ve taken with us from touring for about three years.”
Of course, each band member’s interpretation of these influences will differ. So while Dryden says Rudimental’s music is the sum of their collective experience, the picking and choosing of influences isn’t a mediated exercise.
“We don’t walk into the studio and say, ‘Alright, let’s make a drum and bass track today,’ or ‘Let’s make a house tune today.’ It naturally evolves. We kind of write music in a traditional sense, where we just get instruments out and start jamming different ideas together. Then we write the songs around those jams that we’ve made, and then the electronic side of things always comes at a later stage.
“When you’re in places like Jamaica writing music, it’s impossible not to be influenced by reggae and the whole reggae culture. So while you’re there in the studio, those things organically influence your music, and I think that’s happened all around the world with this new album.”
In spite of the broad spectrum of ingredients, Rudimental’s production background allowed them to tie these influences together in a cohesive and exceedingly marketable manner. This could have otherwise been difficult, especially given the guest vocalists involved – along with omnipresent pop singer Ed Sheeran, who sings on lead single ‘Bloodstream’, the record features the likes of Bobby Womack, Foy Vance, Dizzee Rascal, MNEK and Lianne La Havas.
“We never like to limit ourselves or put boundaries on what we do,” Dryden says. “When we write music, we don’t plan too much about where it will end up. But when we finished the album, we chose tracks that worked together. There’s another 20 to 30 songs that could’ve been thrown on the album but didn’t quite fit the whole feel of the album.”
While all the guest vocalists sound at home on We The Generation, the presence of sadly deceased American R&B legend Womack is of particular note.
“We met Bobby Womack at [Later… With] Jools Holland. We were performing and he was loving our performance and after we finished he came up to us and was like, ‘Guys, that was amazing.’ And we were like, ‘Wow, this is Bobby Womack.’ You know, he’s a legend. So we exchanged details and always planned to get in the studio. Unfortunately his health deteriorated and we never got a chance to get in the studio with him. Then he unfortunately passed away, but his wife contacted us and said he had this amazing song, an a capella called ‘New Day’ that she would love us to work on. We worked around the a capella and made this amazing track.
“[It was] such a honour to be able to work on a track with Bobby Womack’s vocals. It’s something we can look back in the future and no matter whatever happens, we were lucky enough to work with Bobby Womack. It’s definitely a very proud moment.”
Womack’s admitted fandom illustrates the sort of heights Rudimental soared to off the back of their debut release. However, this meant there were also major expectations on whatever came next.
“There was a bit of pressure,” Dryden admits. “One thing that we kept hearing was that the second album is a very important statement in your career. A lot of people have great breakthrough albums with their first album, and then their second one has dipped and hasn’t been as successful or hasn’t lived up to expectations.
“So there was a lot of pressure like that, but when we’re so busy and so much on the road and so focused getting all our music done and getting in the studio, we tried not to let that affect us too much. The main thing for us was being really proud of the music we made, and I think that’s what shaped the album, rather than outside influences and pressure. This is the message we wanted to show.”
Early next month, Rudimental will return to Australia for their third tour in as many years. Given the emphasis on electronic elements and the heavy reliance on guest vocalists, the band’s live show is a major production number.
“We have 11 band members onstage with us,” says Dryden. “We have the four of us, Rudimental, with our instruments. We have our brass section; we have four different vocalists, two of them being Anne-Marie and Will Heard, who feature heavily on the new album – they’re amazing to see live and they’ll be on the road with us, so I can’t wait to show them off to you guys, because they’re incredible talents. And we’ve also got our drummer, who’s got an amazing drum kit where it’s half-acoustic, half-electronic, so it mixes between the acoustic and electronic sounds of the album. It’s a pretty full-on show and we’re dead excited to be coming out and playing songs from the new album.”
Rudimental’sWe The Generation is out now through Atlantic/Warner. They playVanfest 2015, atForbes ShowgroundsFriday December 4 – Saturday December 5, andthe Enmore Theatre on Thursday December 10.
