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The Brixton Boys are back! Stereo MCs are fresh from unleashing their latest genre surfing opus, ‘Double Bubble’, onto an unsuspecting world last summer. Often labelled as one of the UK’s most iconic bands, and with Mercury nominations, Brit awards and million selling albums behind them, the Stereo MCs are here once again to prove that they’re as innovative and relevant as ever.

Formed around the core duo of Rob Birch and Nick Hallam in the late 1980’s, Stereo MCs debut album ‘33-45-78’ was a raw document of its time. Spliced beats and elementary production laid the foundations for a sound that gave British kids, turned onto the likes of Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions, a native source that spoke directly to them about their own lives.   

Follow up ‘Supernatural’s lead single ‘Elevate My Mind’ saw them becoming the first British band to hit the US pop single charts with a dance infused Hip-Hop track, as they channelled the Acid House vibe into the melting pot, before third album, the sublime ‘Connected’, propelled them to international prominence, gaining accolades from far and wide, including those two Brit Awards, and tours alongside the likes of Happy Mondays and U2.  

A deserved hiatus from recording original material followed, as the dust settled on ‘Connected’.  Busying themselves with DJing, their Gee Street label and remix work, Rob and Nick, keen not to repeat themselves, took their time over fourth studio album, ‘Deep Down & Dirty’, a collision of filth and funk that was delivered to a weight of expectation.  Changing tack critically lauded fifth album ‘Paradise’ added a deeper soul to their canon and marked a new chapter as the band left the shackles of the corporate music world to forge their own increasingly distinct path with Graffiti Recordings.

Live too their star rose, with them often being described as the best live dance act in the world. Recently the Stereos were awarded a gold star performance in Time Out’s 2005 Glastonbury review (the other gold stars were garnished by the high and mighty of musical monarchy – Coldplay / Kaiser Chiefs / Razorlight).   

And so, we arrive at Double Bubble. The recent preceding years building up to Double Bubble have been spent DJing, soaking up the here and now of clubland, or holed up in their ‘Frontline Studio’ in the heart of Brixton, working on their latest pigeon-hole defying record.  Always at the root of the band, Brixton is a fertile breeding ground that has been central to Stereo MCs development over the years and Double Bubble is no exception. A chance meeting in a Brixton pub between Rob and 19 year old local beat-meister Tic-Toc led to a burgeoning friendship and a prolifically creative musical collaboration that has infused Double Bubble’s fresh and vital approach. 

Unquestionably a Stereo MCs record, it’s clear that this wasn’t a band resting on the laurels of a successful past. Peppered with Rob’s lean lyrical vignettes, musically ‘Double Bubble’ is right on the money. The album’s first fruit ‘Gringo’ (recently unleashed as a peak-time club weapon) is already an online viral sensation thanks to it’s surreal virtual reality inspired video, whilst the electronic stomp of ‘The Here & Now’, the urban chronicles of ‘City Lights’, the darkly reflective ‘Pictures’ and epic ‘Black Gold’, clearly signal a band that is very comfortable in its own skin and uniquely Stereo MCs.  

With the live band firing on all cylinders, having smashed festivals with their brand new stage show all over Europe last Summer, the band are now also DJing and playing live all over the globe, whilst hard at work in the studio writing new material. 

Fully deserving of their position as the talismen and statesmen of the dance music scene, Stereo MCs continue to show that they will always eschew the easy option and continue to feed the fire in their bellies, side stepping convention and making music that resonates with their surroundings.