Rudimental

Rudimental

18+

Chart-conquering Drum & Bass outfit RUDIM3NTAL returns with their fifth album, RUDIM3NTAL, featuring the previously-released Top 10 single “Dancing Is Healing” and the Skepsis-assisted “Green & Gold”, the latter of which ended up becoming the second most-streamed DnB tune on Spotify in 2024. A rekindling of their passion for the genre and the pirate radio ethos that raised them, the album features legends like Popcaan, Idris Elba, Khalid and MIST, along with emerging talent including Charlotte Plank, Venbee and Mystic Marley, emphasising their reach and significance within the DnB scene and music globally. 

Fully focused on the new album and the path ahead, it was only right that they return to their origins and DnB foundations for this pivotal moment, with RUDIM3NTAL marking a new chapter for Piers, Kesi and Leon. This is their first album as the original trio, three friends who found each other in primary school.

Born and raised in Hackney, the trio found each other the moment they started school. “I’ve known Kesi and Piers for as long as I can remember,” Leon explains. “It’s surreal to think about how life might have turned out if I hadn’t bumped into Piers at just 5 years old on the school playground, or if one of our closest friends hadn’t introduced me to Kesi at a family gathering when I was 11. These chance encounters shaped not only who I am but also what we would eventually become together. Truth is, RUDIM3NTAL was RUDIM3NTAL long before we even knew it.”

Making music together was, of course, inevitable. All three knew from the get-go that music would always be their priority. Those cherished days on pirate radio inform much of the new album. As students of that era, conquering the likes of Rinse FM and Deja Vu was first on their list.

“The initial goal as teenage producers was to get on pirate radio,” Piers adds, “because you felt like your friends would hear it. The people who got the artists or the MCs and the DJs that were up and coming would hear it, and the ones that you inspired to be, like Heartless Crew and Pay As U Go at the time. That was the immediate goal.”

Once they had that first footing, the ascent was quick. Radio play followed and they began to amass a loyal fanbase, their melodic, at times emotive take on Drum & Bass proved a welcome counter to the chugging, heavy-bass sound that was so widespread at the time. Their collaborations with singers found instant support and revealed their instincts for moving away from the crowd.

RUDIM3NTAL have enjoyed unimaginable success since then, including countless chart entries, two #1 albums, three #1 singles, 5 billion streams, 4 albums, world tours, platinum-selling singles, and a stack of awards. To this day, their relevance and ability to connect with new generations is undeniable, whilst being a leading light in the DnB renaissance is evident by the fact the trio have managed to hold down their position in Spotify’s list of the top 10 most-streamed Drum & Bass artists.

Historically, RUDIM3NTAL have been a multi-faceted outfit, mixing DJing, electronic music production and live instrumentation. With RUDIM3NTAL, Piers, Leon and Kesi are putting a more pronounced focus on the DJing side. Live instruments — between them they play guitars, bass guitars, drums, and keys — are still an essential part of the new album, but RUDIM3NTAL is a purer form of their signature sound.

RUDIM3NTAL is also a re-calibration for the trio, and celebrates their sound system roots. Since breaking through, their signature has always been climactic, expressive hooks underpinned with crisp, energetic breakbeats, but the new album puts that hallmark back in the spotlight. Of course, it’s not without its heavier moments. The MIST collaboration, Piers says, is “probably the heaviest track we've ever done”.

“What's great about Drum & Bass is it can be dark,” Piers explains, “but it can also be soulful, LTJ Bukem-style, like liquid. There are different forms of Drum & Bass, and that's what I love about the genre. It's always kept going, but it's always had different elements.”

With this new album, they celebrate DnB in all its forms and dive deeper than ever into the cultural lineage that connects it to pirate radio and sound system culture both here in the UK and in the Caribbean. Those links can be heard throughout the album, both in the production and the featured guests. 

Among those representing the UK side are Flowdan and Riko Dan, two veterans of pirate radio whose immediately recognisable tones have helped define the sound of garage, grime, dubstep, DnB and more since the turn of the millennium. 

RUDIM3NTAL also took care to incorporate sounds straight from the source. On “Chop Dem Down”, they employ the talents of the legendary Glen DaCosta from The Wailers. Recorded nearly 10 years ago at Jon Baker’s legendary super studio GeeJam studios while in Jamaica with Major Lazer, “Chop Dem Down” was a crucial early piece of the puzzle. Elsewhere on the album, they reaffirm those connections with a stunning appearance from a modern day Jamaican legend, Popcaan, whose tough yet melodic vocals shine alongside MIST and Skepsis on “Vex”.

The album will, of course, be supported with a full tour. Unlike previous tours that have leaned into their gift as multi-instrumentalists, the DnB heart of this album has Piers, Kesi and Leon getting back behind the decks again. This has already been showcased at huge shows in Australia and New Zealand, plus Coachella, Glastonbury and Parklife, with the trio set to take the live set up to Reading and Leeds and Boomtown over the summer. 

“We've just created such a big live show that everyone loves to watch and see,” Leon explains. “With this album, we took a step back and realised that it’s the DJ-oriented stuff that’s going to make people want to rave and dance. We realised if we want to unite people with the sounds that are on that album, a DJ-oriented approach is the right step.”

“For this album, we’re focusing on Drum & Bass, something that feels right for us at this stage of our journey,” Leon adds. “We’ve got a new show to bring to the table, and it only makes sense for our music to evolve alongside it. The album and the show go hand in hand, capturing that energy and sound that we all know and love.”

The new album represents a full circle moment. As a trio of lifelong friends reconnecting with the foundations on which RUDIM3NTAL was first built, Leon, Piers and Kesi sound refreshed, reinvigorated and ready to tear into the next chapter of the band’s story.