Longtime London 90′s duo of Jake Wherry and Ollie Teeba return as The Herbaliser, this time collaborating with The Easy Access Orchestra for their seventh album, There Were Seven. The result is a set of infectious new grooves from The Herbaliser we all know and love, yet this time with a much fuller, crispier sound.

As per usual, The Herbaliser jump between genres on There Were Seven, all keeping it grounded within the roots of their own brand of London funk. The album opens with “The Return Of The Seven”, a sort of spaghetti-western theme song, suggesting that they are the magnificent, with a sensation style. “Lost Boy” is a live, well produced trip-hop vocal collaboration with Hannah Clive, evoking feelings of 90′s groups like Mono and, of course, Portishead. Later, “Mother Dove” continues the trend, acting as the unofficial score to Guy Ritchie’s next London crime caper.

The dub driven “Welcome To Extravagance” takes things in a different direction, with layers of lush sounds that would impress even the most seasoned rasta. “Zero Hill”, the first of three collaborations with rap outfit Twin Peaks is an impressive showing from the duo, as are the lyrical jab trading “Crimes & Misdemeanors”, and the humorous Lethal Weapon inspired “Danny Glover”. The other hip-hop driven cuts (“Sad State Of Affairs” w/ George The Poet and “March Of The Dead Things” w/ Teenburger) have heart, but don’t go off quite as flawlessly. “Inside The Machine” is an instrumental track that sounds a bit like what RJD2 might produce if he’d taken the same approach of hiring a seven piece orchestra.

All in all, Herbaliser remain one of the most consistant crews of the beat-driven, instrumental genre, and with There Were Seven, they defy expectations and deliver a solid steel product, once again.

      Hosted by longtime collaborator Jean Grae (who’s been recording with them since she was known as What What), the number one femcee appears on four of the album’s tracks, setting it off from the get-go with “Nah Mean, Nah’m Sayin”, which subscribes to her usual goofy sense of humor and clever word play, as the Herbaliser provides a seemingly random array of horns as a backdrop. She quickly follows with “The Generals”, a brilliant “posse-cut parody” of sorts, which features Ms. Grae playing the parts of five different rappers, mimicking the styles of each Eminem, E-40, Mase, and others, into her own characters. Jean is not the only rap act on the album, however, as both Cappo and Roots Manuva deliver local Londontown flavor on both “Failure’s No Option” and “Lord Lord”, respectively. 

      But while Take London has it’s share of good enough hip-hop cuts, it really stands out more in the Herbaliser’s solo selections. While not trying to duplicate sounds of RJD2 or Shadow or anyone else, Herbaliser’s sound is all their own, and Take London has a concurrent theme running throughout. Playing like the soundtrack to a Guy Ritchie crime caper (or more aptly, any chapter in The Getaway video game series), Take London captures the dank fog of the London underworld beautifully on soulful, cinematic selections such as “Song For Mary”, “Kittynapper”, “Geddim”, and many others, which make up a great majority of the album’s sound. And just in case your afraid of it getting “too British”, there’s always west-coast b-boy jams like “Gadget Funk” and of course the hip-hop cuts to balance it out. Top notch stuff here, a solid listen from top to bottom.

Leading off the cuts featuring guest rhymers, What What of Natural Resource delivers two sure shot joints. “Mission Improbable” is a smooth tale of espionage told over a slow bassline and sharp, but gentle guitar strums. Equally laid back is “Let It Go”, where piano drops help describe what this female MC does when a situation gets out of control. Speaking of dope female MCs, Illadelphian Bahamadia holds court on “When I Shine”. And just when it seems these laid back joints are all that represent The Herbaliser, check for “Who’s The Realest”. This thumping cut is what a DJ track should be: head-nodding beats with precise and impressive scratching. The cuts are supplied by DJ Ollie Teeba, who flexes mightily on the wheels by asking “Who’s The Realest” via Fat Joe’s intimidating vocal samples.

Equally tight is “Road Of Many Signs” featuring the severely under-appreciated Dream Warriors, who get open over a lush vibe accented track with yet another slow, but funky Jake Wherry bassline. “Wall Crawling Giant Insect Breaks” is another standout jam giving sonic thanks to turntable pioneers and former pause tape masters everywhere. Coming to the record’s close, “The Missing Suitcase” is an instrumental cut that could easily find its way into a Hollywood flick during moments of heated action. The tune suggests that a film score should be next on The Herbaliser’s “to do” list.

Very Mercenary avoids trip-hop pitfalls by keeping it hype with a healthy helping of fat beats to go along with varied production styles. Dope MCs added to the mix result in these Londoners keeping it real–and realer than many