Roots Manuva - 4everevolution

Roots Manuva returns within a year of his last full length with '4everevolution' and it's an ambitious and flavoursome beast indeed. 17 tracks and clocking in at around an hour, Rodney Smith's fifth studio album covers a broad spectrum of style injecting a little of his own personality into everything he touches, be it hip-hop, downtempo, dub or funk. The Banana Klan (Roots's backing band) are on particularly fine form here, mixing instruments and arrangements with a keen ear for pop as well as straight up experimentation. The list of contributors is also pretty insane with the most extreme example being Skin and Cass from Skunk Anansie adding an emotional poignancy to 'Skid Valley'. The most effective team-up is probably 'Watch Me Dance' feat. Toddla T. This one was released as a single earlier in the year and is a total killer minimalist funk track that shows off Smith's range and sees him aping the likes of George Clinton and Prince with flair and ingenuity. I've not got time to listen to the entire album but from what I've heard so far, '4everevolution' is the sound of an ever maturing artist settling into his thing with poise, grace and obviously, a little cheeky humour along the way. An exceptional rhyming talent.