Newport’s finest, Skindred, come roaring back with this, their ninth studio album and it’s all that could be hoped for and more. Since the band formed in 1998 they’ve been determined to push boundaries, picking up the wildly inventive blend of hard rock and reggae that acts like Fishbone broke big with. Like their American cousins, the Welsh outfit do things their way and there’s a glorious freedom that runs through each of their albums thus far, the core of high energy music with a message, winning them fans across the spectrum. Without doubt, the live arena is where the band shine their brightest and anyone who’s witnessed a massed audience doing the ‘Newport Helicopter’ will attest that their shows are phenomenal, but the albums are streets ahead of the competition too, capturing their raw power.
There’s a real confidence and maturity displayed in ‘You Got This’, Skindred’s ability to take sudden left turns sharpened even further and their willful disregard of boundaries boosting the songwriting skills they dig into. In the past, a ‘party’ album was usually a euphemism for something big and dumb, lacking in any nuance and performed by some tight jeaned and shaggy haired outfit from Sunset Strip or a bar somewhere in the Midwest. What Benji Webbe and Co bring is some good times, the general feeling upbeat and riotous as positivity triumphs over the darker times. For anyone who knows their work, the band aren’t afraid to confront serious issues but, similarly to bands like Pulverise, they do so in a powerful way that values astute commentary over bludgeoning preaching.
Things kick off in loud style with the titular ‘You Got This’, its big bounce and huge sound enough to wake the neighbours, the electronic touches in Webbe’s vocals giving things an extra layer and it tears out of the speakers with no little intent. The following ‘Can I Get A’ hits a fresh, almost pop, vein and with snatches of lyrics from Paul Young’s ‘Love of the Common People’ knowingly thrown in near the end, it’s another nice and unexpected twist on the always changing formula. There’s no sense that they’ve gone soft here though as the ferocious ‘This is the Sound’ and a brutal and relentless ‘Big Em Up’ show they’re not ready to take things easy just yet, the revolutionary ‘My People’ a wall shattering call to arms.
It’s impossible not to smile whilst listening to the album, even when the bright and sunny feel of ‘Broke’ is juxtaposed with its biting lyrics and numbers like ‘This is the Sound’ and ‘Do it Like This’ are prime slices of Skindred as the band blends their crushing rock and reggae stylings together in devastating fashion. With Number One albums and their own sold-out headline show at Wembley under their belts, it seems like there’s no stopping Benji, Mikey and Arya and ‘You Got This’ is their biggest, boldest and best statement yet. You need this in your life…
PLAYING SHOWS ACROSS THE UK THIS WEEK
INCLUDING NEWLY ANNOUNCED RECORD STORE DAY
TAKEOVER @ AT RAVEN RECORDS, CAMDEN TOMORROW
FULL UK & IRELAND HEADLINE TOUR STARTS OCTOBER
INCLUDING LONDON’S ALEXANDRA PALACE
WITH ALIEN ANT FARM, SPINESHANK & ORGY IN SUPPORT
HEADLINING RADAR FESTIVAL & APPEARING AT BLACKBIRD, BOOMTOWN, CARDIFF CASTLE + BEAUTIFUL DAYS FESTIVALS