I didn’t love Rudimental’s Home when I first heard it. No, wait, that’s not true. I loved anything with the exquisite soulful John Newman singing lead, that would be “Not Giving In” and the smash hit “Feel the Love” but other than that, half an hour of listening left me decidedly indifferent to most of it.”Waiting All Night”? A current fave? Not much impression, just another Ellie Goulding wannabe. “Spoons”. Sure but what’s the fuss. And as for Emeli Sande??? “More Than Anything” was not “Where I Sleep”, though if you include “Free” they do add up to an add to her huge album.
But then I saw them opening for Emeli at Summerstage and it was all over. Rudimental are producers Piers Agget, Kesi Dryden, Amir Amor and DJ Locksmith, standard issue EDM band stuff, but check the name again. These guys add elements of ska, and elements of hard disco to soul and techno and on stage it is a powerful mix of full own pleasure principle pop music and when you go back to it with the live show in mind, with Ella Eyre and Angel Haze in mind, the album explodes in the brightest of colors and comes to life as a minor masterpiece of EDM, of Brit pop.
The big thing with Rudimental is dance pop is fun, even their name is a bblast (read Crazy Rude Boy) and they are having fun presenting it to us but Home takes awhile because they don’t record it with the sumptuous oof they give it live. “Feel The Love” doesn’t achieve the anthem quality on stage, the cresting waves of melodic soul hooks, and it is still great.
But with a whos who list of UK first tier young rock stars fronting them, Rudimental still manage a Now That’s What I Call Dance Pop for 2013; unlike Disclosure they don’t let their art effect their rhythms; the great thing about Rudimental is they are a 360 degree band; they seem to veer and view from every direction: they are protean, they add shadings to the limitations of dance with healthy dollops of soul. And at their best, use modern technology to amplify the past, they are a continuum.
If that’s too heavy, “Waiting All Night” is perfect pop, “Hell Could Freeze” is post-modern blues. “Spoons” is House as performed in 2014, and all the way through this terrific, really every song here, will get you on the dancefloor without outstaying its welcome. Like the album cover Home is taking every soul sound home with it, with you, and it is making you jump around while it does so