STEREO MC’S – EMPEROR’S NIGHTINGALE

Best known for their 1992 international hit Connected, Stereo MC’s have often been touted as one of England’s earliest significant rap groups. However, their music never entirely fit that description twenty years ago and it still doesn’t today on their seventh album Emperor’s Nightingale. Opener Wooden Heart recalls the prog-synth magnificence of Vangelis and Jean Michel Jarre, while Boy melds punchy brass and militant drum rolls with the aid of jazz-pop pianist Jamie Cullum. This British eccentricity carries on into the lyrical themes – “and now that I’m a man / my tools are in the van”, for instance. The album channels the off-kilter Britpop of 90s kingpins Blur and Pulp while catching the tail end of pop’s recent 80s fixation. Phase Me is pure synthy funk in the style of Prince but with vocals that could have come courtesy of Liam Gallagher. Later in the album, Tales is equal parts Robbie Williams and dubstep wunderkind Example. With the unmistakably ‘dub’ bass groove bought to the fore on Bring It On, it does sometimes seem like Stereo MC’s are trying a bit too hard to get with the times. However, Emperor’s Nightingale does strike an admirable balance between sonic nostalgia and distinctive identity. Whether it heralds a 90s music revival is anyone’s guess, though.

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