Still, for my money, the biggest, boldest, most hard-hitting brass outfit out there, Renegade Brass Band make a hugely welcome return with Totems. “Once you go brass, you never go back,” spits V3xation, the 12-piece’s resident MC, over grandiose horns and thumping percussion on monumental intro track ‘EAF’. Naturally, it takes a decidedly strong flow to stand out amongst the pure power generated by the brass section in RBB, but perfect timing and vicious lyrics sees him more than hold his own throughout.
Over the course of the album, sound and genres are frequently crossed. From the swaggering old school hip-hop and live scratching of ‘Torches and Pitchforks’ to the rousing latin jazz of ‘All Out’, it’s another riveting journey from an outfit that are so much more than just a festival or party band. That said, monumental closing track ‘Monte Carlo’ had the hairs raised on my arms as I instinctively Googled their next Sheffield live appearance … Yep – 22nd April, O2 Academy. Give this a listen and I’m sure I’ll be seeing you there.
5/5
