Veteran of the London hip-hop scene since the mid-90s Roots Manuva is back with his sixth studio LP Bleeds. Four years after his last release the forty-two year old has returned with a record that maintains a sense of individualism that is prevalent throughout all his music. Despite being instrumental in the rise of the UK scene it is his peculiar, or let’s say unconventional tendencies, which have side lined him from the genre’s main faction. His laboured voice reigns true over an eclectically engineered background sound.

‘Hard Bastards’ kicks off the album in style; a condemnation of the marginalisation of the underclass in modern Britain. A bleak reflection confounded with those to blame resigned to simply “bastards” which heavily contrasts with the convoluted lyrics which carry out the track. Next, ‘Crying’ takes a turn for the more disturbing and eerie as a small child’s cry is incorporated into the beat throughout the entirety of the song. Four Tet’s supervision over ‘Facety 2:1’ was the first single released off Bleeds earlier this year and just when its rampant and frenetic rhythm threatens to boil over Roots’ calming influence draws it back in. ‘Don’t Breathe Out’ adopts the front of a somewhat Motown-esque sound before the introduction of high reaching vocals which pave the way for Manuva to enter centre stage. Critically there is an excellent side show of talent on the whole LP but it doesn’t distract from the south London artist’s rustic tones.

A rallying cry in the penultimate track ‘I Know Your Face’ typifies Roots Manuva’s emotional reach on a record that is tinged with bitterness and defiance. Bleeds doesn’t disappoint and although it comes from a veteran of the game, it is a triumph for what is an ever emerging pool of hip-hop talent within the United Kingdom.

Niall Ballinger