Stranger just found a gem!  If you loved old school hip hop and that groovy jazz-funk base that they used to play on Friday night in London’s Wag Club in the late 1980s, then pick up a copy of this. You won’t be disappointed.

Released on !K7 on 7 July, this melting pot of fine tunes was produced by the legendary Ninja Tune artists Jake Wherry and Ollie Teeba. They’ve worked together for over ten years, with great musical influences coming from legends like Quincy Jones, James Brown, Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, Serge Gainsbourg, and The Meters.

Same As It Never Was covers and melds a wide musical spectrum of many ages. It will have you bopping your head and sipping on drinks after the first track, visualizing a group of street-kids busting moves to those ever so gentle scratches.

Seriously recommended tracks:
Track 3, Just Won’t Stop (to stomp a little, or a lot).
Track 7, Street Karma (some funky base action).
Track 8, You’re Not All That  (for some serious foot-sliding).

Have a listen here.

This album, unlike others produced by the duo, has a single vocalist – 22-year-old Londoner Jessica Darling. Her soulful voice is touted as timeless and is none-less than the truth. Her velvety sounds earned her a permanent place in the band, joining two other new members, Easy Access Orchestra collaborators Ralph Lamb and Andy Ross, and bass guitarist Pino Palladino. All five contributed to the songwriting for Same As It Never Was. (Joanna Stevens)

The group are now on a European/US tour.  To find out more about venue’s and tour dates visit MySpace.

Old-skool Herbaliser video:

Road of Many Signs (1999) 

Something Wicked This Way Comes (2002):