Later they bring in guest rapper George the Poet on ‘Sad State of Affairs’, and it resembles Handsome Boy Modeling School at their best. With all of these influences and throwbacks combined, The Herbaliser are far more powerful than Captain Planet, they are a relentless party machine that reminds all of us why we started listening to them in the first place.

Listening to all of the thrashing tones of dubstep crowding the airwaves these days, it’s easy to forget that once upon a time, “bedroom geniuses” actually used real samples and drum beats to make smooth and melodic mashups. The Herbaliser is one of those old-school artists, having pioneered the genre of Jazz-Rap with the release of Remedies in 1995. Back then, they occasionally tried too hard to squeeze as many sounds and beats-per-minute into each and every tune. These days, they’ve learned from their mistakes, mellowed out, and realized that sometimes less is more. The result is There Were Seven, where the anthemic party beats like “Extravaganzia” reside side-by-side with steady gangster grooves interlaced with quotes from The Wire on the track, “Setting Up.”

Is There Were Seven going to blow your mind? If you are already a fan, probably not; unlike other comeback albums from our adolescent heroes, though, it will not disappoint.

The post Album review: Herbaliser “There Were Seven” appeared first on Quip Magazine.