London trio The Invaderz quickly made a dent in the dnb world in the early 2000s with top drawer outings for esteemed imprints like Metalheadz, DSCI4 and Soul:r before going very quiet in 2007.
It would be 2013 before they would reappear when they’d team up with Marky for a 12″ on Klute’s Commercial Suicide imprint. This would prove to be the beginning of a fruitful relationship when it was announced that the label would be home to the trio’s debut album “New Found Dialect”.
The long-player is a tremendous piece of work that shows the dnb world is all the better with them in it. From jazzy liquid funk style rollers to tough techy beats and beyond it’s a must for anyone with even a passing taste for the genre.
The album sampler is out now with the full thing landing on the 3rd of November, you can get your pre-order on over at junodownload now.
As many of today’s drum n bass listeners might not be too au fait with the trio’s earlier work we thought we’d ask Klute to pick out of his favourites to get you started before diving into their back catalogue – over to Mr Withers…
Klute picks 5 essential Invaderz tracks
1. Revealed
From around the same time I started getting these awkward random phone calls from Goldie in 2000 / 2001 – these Invaderz guys were cropping up everywhere at the same time. Everything that was happening to me at the time seemed to be happening to them too.
This is simply just beautiful and elegant sample based D&B that just needs to be listened to and not talked about.
2. So Low
Oozing with depth and style, this is The Invaderz high point when it comes to techno soul. Absolutely fluid and in my opinion personifies what Fabio always meant by the term “Liquid”.
Beautiful guitar hooks and sax licks surrounded in a deep and lush synth pads and submerged vocals. Tilt your head back and drift off to those memories of the Velvet Rooms and Fabio & Groove on Kiss FM.
3. Mirage
One thing I’ve always loved about the Invaderz is their unique ability to toughen up what would otherwise be very gentle drifty tunes.
This is a classic example of this, punding beats combined with the signature Invaderz thudding 808 bassline combined with electro vocal stabs to drive you to the dance floor.
Released in 2001 on the C.I.A. Compilation “Tuned In”.
4. Klute – Take A Breath (The Invaderz VIP)
In exchange for me turning in a remix of the Invaderz classic “Rock” I asked the boys to put their hand to my dance “Take A Breath” with devastating results.
It took quite awhile to come out as I was too quick off the mark with getting more “new” stuff out at the time, so it sat on the shelf in the studio for quite awhile, eventually seeing the light of day a year ago on the flip of my Single “Best Bits Not Over”.
Expert amen choppage just takes the original over the edge. Still tearing up across the globe to this day.
5. Doublethink
I think the new album is a phenomenal set. 13 tunes across the board, showing full depth and dexterity. It is the definition of D&B in my eyes.
If I have to pick ONE fave from this LP its got to be “Doublethink” – pure rolling jungle vibes, dirty bassline, pounding beats and skipping percussion. I cant wait to play it whenever I’m out.
The Invaderz also recently turned in a rather tidy mix for Fabric, get your ears around that below:
