The Essential Guide To Rudimental's 'We The Generation'

  • back
    The Essential Guide To Rudimental's 'We The Generation'
    POSTED


     

    Rudimental's debut record Home was one of the true breakthrough dance records of 2013. Led by the massive single Feel The Love, it generated five big singles and broke young vocalists like John Newman, Ella Eyre, Alex Clare and MNEK. It's been two years since then but somehow it feels like Rudimental haven't been away at all. In that time, they've relentlessly toured, playing festivals around the globe and somehow managed to piece together album number two.

     

    That album is We The Generation - a product of time spent travelling and playing in front of huge audiences. It’s a big sounding record that brings together elements of soul and jazz with their now signature drum n’ bass sound which has been emulated plenty of times since but never bettered. There’s a tendency to look at dance records as if they’ve been constructed behind a computer but that couldn’t be further away from the truth for this one. The album’s full of brass, live drums and booming vocals recorded in the most organic way possible.

     

    The result of that is an album with a huge heart. At time it feels like a party record, at other times it feels like a church soundtrack but it never loses that uplifting feeling of community. This is another set of cuts made for huge audiences to enjoy together and no doubt they’ll be embarking on another endless tour to make that happen.

     

    While this is a familiar Rudimental, it’s an evolving one also so we’ve put together an essential guide to the album so you can meet its guest vocalists, get a feel of what the band were trying to achieve and catch up on anything that you’ve missed in the lead up to the album.

     

    New Artists 

    Anne-Marie

    Anne-Maire toured with Rudimental for two years and she must’ve impressed because they’ve decided to fill the album with tracks featuring the Essex-songstress. She’s on single Rumour Mill, she collabs with Dizzie Rascal on Love Ain’t Just A Word and goes solo on Foreign World. If you’re craving more Anne-Marie she’s also dropped a bunch of her own tracks this year including the stellar Karate.

     

    Will Heard

    Rudimental have dubbed Will Heard the new John Newman. He has the same kind of soulful tone to his voice and cranks it out four times on We The Generation. He’s featured on tracks by Kygo and Klangkarussell but it seems Rudimental have nabbed him as he’s touring with them right now. It’s his voice on their single I Will For Love which is arguably one of the biggest moments on the album.

     

    Mahalia

    17 year-old singer Mahalia features on the title track of the album. She’s currently working on her debut album but she’s already toured with Ed Sheeran and Kwabs as well as appeared on Jools Holland. It’s a ridiculous list of credentials for a 17 year-old but you only have to listen to We The Generation to know she’s got the goods.

     

    Returning Vocalists

    Ella Eyre

    Ella Eyre took Rudimental to the top of the charts in the UK with Waiting All Night from their first album. She’s back on this one for Too Cool which is a little more placid than their former hit but no less soulful and stirring. In between Rudimental records, Eyre has release her own album Feline which she worked on with people like Sigma, DJ Fresh and Two Inch Punch.

     

    MNEK

    MNEK was on one of Rudimental’s first tracks Spoon and they’ve managed to lure him back for album number two. He’s added vocals to Common Emotion one of the more deep house-sounding tunes on the record. Name anyone and MNEK’s probably worked with them in the last few years. He’s done tunes with or for Kylie, Duke Dumont, Clean Bandit and Naughty Boy. His most recent release is a duet with Swede Zara Larsson Never Forget You.

     

    Big Names

     

    Lianne La Havas

    LLH has added her smokey voice to two songs on We The Generation, if you include the bonus tracks. Fresh off the release of her gorgeous sophomore album Blood, she appears on Needn’t Speak which sounds like it was recorded in the depths of a jazz club. It’s probably the least Rudimental-sounding track on the album but it’s a stunner and adds some diversity.

     

    Ed Sheeran

    Ed and Rudimental have struck up a little bromance over the last few years. Rudimental remixed his tune Bloodstream which took over the airwaves in countries all around the world and that appears on this album alongside an original Lay It All On Me. Lots of people were calling this pairing unlikely in the beginning but Sheeran’s earthy vocals are the type that Rudimental usually gravitate towards so it makes sense really.

     

    Bobby Womack

    Album closer New Day is a pretty special one for the band. Soul legend Bobby Womack recorded vocals for this song before he passed away. According to Rudimental it was one of Womack’s last wishes to write a song with the Brits who he originally discovered when they both appeared on Jools Holland. Before finishing the song Womack passed away but his wife encouraged them to complete it.

     

    What They Said

    The common notion that is coming up in Rudimental interviews right now if that We The Generation is about that feeling of community and family. “‘We The Generation’, for me, is about positivity, love and a big family coming together,” Amir Izadkhah told NME. “It’s also about life in general. People put restrictions on you. Like, you can’t do that. We’re gonna do it and see what happens. We’re about being free,” added Piers Agget.

     

    “There is a lack of positivity towards this generation, it's often portrayed in a bad way,” Izadkhah said to Clash. In many ways We The Generation feels like they’re trying to bring together an underdog generation and rise them up with energy and feeling. Many will call it a dance record but there’s so much organic instrumentation on the record it’s hard to discount that their also a band. “To start we are musicians, then we are producers,” they said. “Whenever we write songs, we start by jamming out in the studio and create the music, the electronic thing comes afterwards.”

     

    The record has come together over two years of pretty much consistent touring and so there are plenty of influences to be found from all over the world on there. They told Project U that they had completed sessions from South Africa to LA and New York. They found rooms all over the world to jam in and if that wasn’t a possibility they’d record on a tour bus. They told SPIN that they managed to find a tour bus that also had a record studio in it. “Then we found out you can get a studio that has a drum kit, mic room, vocal booth, and beds to sleep on,” they said.

     

    Probably because of its geographical vastness, We The Generation is an amalgamation of sounds from deep house and drum n’ bass to jazz and soul. “Soul and funk are really coming through a lot more in the new album,” Kesi Dryden told Your EDM. “We’ve definitely come together as a tighter group, jamming different ideas that come a lot more naturally.” You’ll hear tracks like Never Let You Go and Too Cool that sound like their debut but there’s also one’s like Foreign World and New Day that signal a development in sound for the foursome.

     

    As much as We The Generation is about the Brits, it’s also about the vocalists. From Dizzee Rascal to Ed Sheeran, every track on the album features a guest vocalist. Sheeran is the big one, featuring on two tracks, but even Izadkhah admits it was a weird combo at first. “Ed is from a different world and it’s a bit of a weird combination, for us and him, but it works well,” he told NME.

     

    Another one that will no doubt generate a lot of interest is a feature from the late, great Womack. The boys understandably felt a lot of pressure working on his track. “Bobby’s wife told us that, before he died, he’d asked for us to finish it,” said Izadkhah. “It’s quite a responsibility. You don’t want to f*** something like that up.”

     

    As for the newbies, Anne-Marie and Will Heard have almost become part of the Rudimental furniture. “There are two new artists that we believe in and are a lot in the album: Anne-Maire and Will Heard,” Agget told Project U. “They’re both on the album and they both tour with us live...the class of 2015.”

     

    Key Performances

    Rudimental In Ibiza

    “My richness is live forever,” says a voice as Rudimental’s Ibiza set for BBC starts. On a stage right on the water in front of a packed in bunch of punters, it feels like the Rudimental ethos is fully realised. It’s all about good times and movement, and there is plenty of that going on here. MNEK, Anne-Marie and Will Heard all appear on stage during the 40 minute set.

    Jools Holland

    A filmed television performance gives us plenty of time to focus on everything that goes on on stage during a Rudimental performance. They prove they’re every bit the band they say they are during this rendition of Never Let You Go with Foy Vance. There are drums, back-up singers, keys, horns and more as they create a vibrant wall of sound. Pretty phenomenal stuff.

     

    Radio 1’s Live Lounge

    Rudimental took on I Will For Love for Radio 1’s Live Lounge, bringing the soul with Will Heard out front. He’s back on vocals by Anne-Marie and together they take the track to church. With organs blaring, you realise just how important that gospel flavour is to Rudimental’s overall aesthetic. It’s what gives them their heart and this performance has plenty of that.

     

    The Videos

    Rumour Mill

    This might be Rudimental’s most simplistic video yet but it could also be the most effective. Will Heard and Anne-Marie sit in a stationary car with the latter leaning forward to whisper in Heard’s ear. It’s stylish and slick - a perfect accompaniment for one of Rudimental’s most pop flavoured tunes.

    We The Generation

    This album is all about community and this video perfectly depicts that. Featuring vocalist Mahalia, it’s shot at Notting Hill Carnival in London. It’s basically just a jam in a supermarket with horns and all giving plenty of warm and fuzzy feelings. The Rudimental boys are also in the clip which is rare for them.

    I Will For Love

    This is the video most likely to tug at the heartstrings. The video for I WIll For Love follows the journey of a Mexican family as they attempt to cross the border into the United States. The family makes it to America and, spoiler alert, manage to live pretty successful lives. It’s dedicated to refugees all around the world and comes with an encouragement from the band to donate to Amnesty.

    I Will Never Let You Go

    Rudimental kicked this album off with a powerful visual for I Will Never Let You Go. It was filmed in places all over the world including UK, Morocco, Ukraine and Los Angeles. There’s some pretty stunning scenery that’s been shot beautifully.

    - Words and infographic by the interns' Sam Murphy for Cool Accidents. 


    Rudimental's We The Generation is out now and can be bought from all places where cool music is sold | streamed. 

    146391
    Tags:
    rudimental,
Submitted by Site Factory admin on




 

Rudimental's debut record Home was one of the true breakthrough dance records of 2013. Led by the massive single Feel The Love, it generated five big singles and broke young vocalists like John Newman, Ella Eyre, Alex Clare and MNEK. It's been two years since then but somehow it feels like Rudimental haven't been away at all. In that time, they've relentlessly toured, playing festivals around the globe and somehow managed to piece together album number two.

 

That album is We The Generation - a product of time spent travelling and playing in front of huge audiences. It’s a big sounding record that brings together elements of soul and jazz with their now signature drum n’ bass sound which has been emulated plenty of times since but never bettered. There’s a tendency to look at dance records as if they’ve been constructed behind a computer but that couldn’t be further away from the truth for this one. The album’s full of brass, live drums and booming vocals recorded in the most organic way possible.

 

The result of that is an album with a huge heart. At time it feels like a party record, at other times it feels like a church soundtrack but it never loses that uplifting feeling of community. This is another set of cuts made for huge audiences to enjoy together and no doubt they’ll be embarking on another endless tour to make that happen.

 

While this is a familiar Rudimental, it’s an evolving one also so we’ve put together an essential guide to the album so you can meet its guest vocalists, get a feel of what the band were trying to achieve and catch up on anything that you’ve missed in the lead up to the album.

 

New Artists 

Anne-Marie

Anne-Maire toured with Rudimental for two years and she must’ve impressed because they’ve decided to fill the album with tracks featuring the Essex-songstress. She’s on single Rumour Mill, she collabs with Dizzie Rascal on Love Ain’t Just A Word and goes solo on Foreign World. If you’re craving more Anne-Marie she’s also dropped a bunch of her own tracks this year including the stellar Karate.

 

Will Heard

Rudimental have dubbed Will Heard the new John Newman. He has the same kind of soulful tone to his voice and cranks it out four times on We The Generation. He’s featured on tracks by Kygo and Klangkarussell but it seems Rudimental have nabbed him as he’s touring with them right now. It’s his voice on their single I Will For Love which is arguably one of the biggest moments on the album.

 

Mahalia

17 year-old singer Mahalia features on the title track of the album. She’s currently working on her debut album but she’s already toured with Ed Sheeran and Kwabs as well as appeared on Jools Holland. It’s a ridiculous list of credentials for a 17 year-old but you only have to listen to We The Generation to know she’s got the goods.

 

Returning Vocalists

Ella Eyre

Ella Eyre took Rudimental to the top of the charts in the UK with Waiting All Night from their first album. She’s back on this one for Too Cool which is a little more placid than their former hit but no less soulful and stirring. In between Rudimental records, Eyre has release her own album Feline which she worked on with people like Sigma, DJ Fresh and Two Inch Punch.

 

MNEK

MNEK was on one of Rudimental’s first tracks Spoon and they’ve managed to lure him back for album number two. He’s added vocals to Common Emotion one of the more deep house-sounding tunes on the record. Name anyone and MNEK’s probably worked with them in the last few years. He’s done tunes with or for Kylie, Duke Dumont, Clean Bandit and Naughty Boy. His most recent release is a duet with Swede Zara Larsson Never Forget You.

 

Big Names

 

Lianne La Havas

LLH has added her smokey voice to two songs on We The Generation, if you include the bonus tracks. Fresh off the release of her gorgeous sophomore album Blood, she appears on Needn’t Speak which sounds like it was recorded in the depths of a jazz club. It’s probably the least Rudimental-sounding track on the album but it’s a stunner and adds some diversity.

 

Ed Sheeran

Ed and Rudimental have struck up a little bromance over the last few years. Rudimental remixed his tune Bloodstream which took over the airwaves in countries all around the world and that appears on this album alongside an original Lay It All On Me. Lots of people were calling this pairing unlikely in the beginning but Sheeran’s earthy vocals are the type that Rudimental usually gravitate towards so it makes sense really.

 

Bobby Womack

Album closer New Day is a pretty special one for the band. Soul legend Bobby Womack recorded vocals for this song before he passed away. According to Rudimental it was one of Womack’s last wishes to write a song with the Brits who he originally discovered when they both appeared on Jools Holland. Before finishing the song Womack passed away but his wife encouraged them to complete it.

 

What They Said

The common notion that is coming up in Rudimental interviews right now if that We The Generation is about that feeling of community and family. “‘We The Generation’, for me, is about positivity, love and a big family coming together,” Amir Izadkhah told NME. “It’s also about life in general. People put restrictions on you. Like, you can’t do that. We’re gonna do it and see what happens. We’re about being free,” added Piers Agget.

 

“There is a lack of positivity towards this generation, it's often portrayed in a bad way,” Izadkhah said to Clash. In many ways We The Generation feels like they’re trying to bring together an underdog generation and rise them up with energy and feeling. Many will call it a dance record but there’s so much organic instrumentation on the record it’s hard to discount that their also a band. “To start we are musicians, then we are producers,” they said. “Whenever we write songs, we start by jamming out in the studio and create the music, the electronic thing comes afterwards.”

 

The record has come together over two years of pretty much consistent touring and so there are plenty of influences to be found from all over the world on there. They told Project U that they had completed sessions from South Africa to LA and New York. They found rooms all over the world to jam in and if that wasn’t a possibility they’d record on a tour bus. They told SPIN that they managed to find a tour bus that also had a record studio in it. “Then we found out you can get a studio that has a drum kit, mic room, vocal booth, and beds to sleep on,” they said.

 

Probably because of its geographical vastness, We The Generation is an amalgamation of sounds from deep house and drum n’ bass to jazz and soul. “Soul and funk are really coming through a lot more in the new album,” Kesi Dryden told Your EDM. “We’ve definitely come together as a tighter group, jamming different ideas that come a lot more naturally.” You’ll hear tracks like Never Let You Go and Too Cool that sound like their debut but there’s also one’s like Foreign World and New Day that signal a development in sound for the foursome.

 

As much as We The Generation is about the Brits, it’s also about the vocalists. From Dizzee Rascal to Ed Sheeran, every track on the album features a guest vocalist. Sheeran is the big one, featuring on two tracks, but even Izadkhah admits it was a weird combo at first. “Ed is from a different world and it’s a bit of a weird combination, for us and him, but it works well,” he told NME.

 

Another one that will no doubt generate a lot of interest is a feature from the late, great Womack. The boys understandably felt a lot of pressure working on his track. “Bobby’s wife told us that, before he died, he’d asked for us to finish it,” said Izadkhah. “It’s quite a responsibility. You don’t want to f*** something like that up.”

 

As for the newbies, Anne-Marie and Will Heard have almost become part of the Rudimental furniture. “There are two new artists that we believe in and are a lot in the album: Anne-Maire and Will Heard,” Agget told Project U. “They’re both on the album and they both tour with us live...the class of 2015.”

 

Key Performances

Rudimental In Ibiza

“My richness is live forever,” says a voice as Rudimental’s Ibiza set for BBC starts. On a stage right on the water in front of a packed in bunch of punters, it feels like the Rudimental ethos is fully realised. It’s all about good times and movement, and there is plenty of that going on here. MNEK, Anne-Marie and Will Heard all appear on stage during the 40 minute set.

Jools Holland

A filmed television performance gives us plenty of time to focus on everything that goes on on stage during a Rudimental performance. They prove they’re every bit the band they say they are during this rendition of Never Let You Go with Foy Vance. There are drums, back-up singers, keys, horns and more as they create a vibrant wall of sound. Pretty phenomenal stuff.

 

Radio 1’s Live Lounge

Rudimental took on I Will For Love for Radio 1’s Live Lounge, bringing the soul with Will Heard out front. He’s back on vocals by Anne-Marie and together they take the track to church. With organs blaring, you realise just how important that gospel flavour is to Rudimental’s overall aesthetic. It’s what gives them their heart and this performance has plenty of that.

 

The Videos

Rumour Mill

This might be Rudimental’s most simplistic video yet but it could also be the most effective. Will Heard and Anne-Marie sit in a stationary car with the latter leaning forward to whisper in Heard’s ear. It’s stylish and slick - a perfect accompaniment for one of Rudimental’s most pop flavoured tunes.

We The Generation

This album is all about community and this video perfectly depicts that. Featuring vocalist Mahalia, it’s shot at Notting Hill Carnival in London. It’s basically just a jam in a supermarket with horns and all giving plenty of warm and fuzzy feelings. The Rudimental boys are also in the clip which is rare for them.

I Will For Love

This is the video most likely to tug at the heartstrings. The video for I WIll For Love follows the journey of a Mexican family as they attempt to cross the border into the United States. The family makes it to America and, spoiler alert, manage to live pretty successful lives. It’s dedicated to refugees all around the world and comes with an encouragement from the band to donate to Amnesty.

I Will Never Let You Go

Rudimental kicked this album off with a powerful visual for I Will Never Let You Go. It was filmed in places all over the world including UK, Morocco, Ukraine and Los Angeles. There’s some pretty stunning scenery that’s been shot beautifully.

- Words and infographic by the interns' Sam Murphy for Cool Accidents. 


Rudimental's We The Generation is out now and can be bought from all places where cool music is sold | streamed. 

Tags Tier 2
rudimental
News id
74916
Blog Thumbnail
Slug URL
the-essential-guide-to-rudimental-s-we-the-generation
Show in home news block?
Off

SIGN UP FOR OUR EMAILS

Be the first to know about new music, competitions, events and more.

terms

By submitting my information, I agree to receive personalized updates and marketing messages about Cool Accidents based on my information, interests, activities, website visits and device data and in accordance with the Privacy Policy. I understand that I can opt-out at any time by emailing privacypolicy@wmg.com.

Thank you!
x

Welcome to Cool Accidents' mailing list.

Customize your notifications for tour dates near your hometown, birthday wishes, or special discounts in our online store!

terms

By submitting my information, I agree to receive personalized updates and marketing messages about Cool Accidents based on my information, interests, activities, website visits and device data and in accordance with the Privacy Policy. In addition, if I have checked the box above, I agree to receive such updates and messages about similar artists, products and offers. I understand that I can opt-out from messages at any time by emailing privacypolicy@wmg.com.