I wanted to jump on this album because I am not Skindred’s biggest fan, and I’ve never really listened to them except when I’ve caught them live. What better reason to check out the new slim-sized 3-member setup as my own introduction?
There are eleven tracks on the album and three have already been released as singles – “Can I Get A”, “This Is The Sound” and the title track “You Got This”. They’re pretty representative of all of the songs on here, and I’d say they’re also possibly amongst the best.
We all know that Skindred’s main selling point is their incredible live show. Fronted by mainman Benji Webbe, they’ve got a genuine talent in front of the mic who really knows how to engage an audience. So my challenge here, as a first time Skindred album listener, is to see how much of that catchiness and charisma can be captured in a handful of digital files.
The songs generally have the Skindred sound that’s pretty much their trademark – reggae fused with hard rock and metal – and Benji’s vocals fluctuate in “reggae-ness” from song to song. One which stands out with more mainstream vocals, but a thumping Carribean rhythm section, is “Broke”. I have a feeling this may be a swipe at the music industry: “I keep working so hard, but I never seem to have any money spend”. Definitely relatable as well as being a bit of an earworm.
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“Born Fe Dis” is pretty much the opposite, more of a rocker but with Benji’s voice jumping across oceans into the Jamaican accent. It’s a head nodder or a fist puncher rather than a circle pit song, but it’s definitely one to consider for their live show.
“Glass” channels more Marley-esque sounds, but mashes them up with Skindred’s own rockier tones in a way that the Newport bunch seem to manage by instinct. The smooth transitions in this song are countered by the more jarring ones in “Big Em Up”, itself pulling from the R&B community as much as anything else, and one song I didn’t enjoy so much.
The album closer (ignoring the bonus track which in honesty I wasn’t too keen on) is very much something you’d imagine playing while you’re sat in a deckchair, sipping on a ridiculously-coloured cocktail on a beach surrounded by palm trees. Chilled but funky, if there’s a holiday song on here then “Give Thanks” is it.
So my first trip through a Skindred album and, on the whole, I liked it. Enough that I gave it more than just a couple of listens. While I’d not say I’m a convert there are quite a few tracks on here I’d happily add to a playlist and hope to hear live on their upcoming tour dates. And, yes, I will go back and check out their back catalogue. I guess that’s mission accomplished by the Welsh contingent then.
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You Got This is out on April 17th
Header photo by Will Bloor Photography
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