Skindred - Smile

Skindred

Heavy Metal/Reggea

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Review By: Matt Isaac

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It’s been 6 years since the Newport quartet released their groundbreaking ‘big tings’ cd. It was their strongest release in their 20 year history.

They are renowned for being a metal band fusing varying musical especially reggae and sun being strongly depicted by frontman benji Webb’s Jamaican heritage..

Five years is a long gap between albums and this is the first album since the pandemic. Will the lads play safe to their established formula or will they broaden their pallet ?

The band obviously prefers to choose the latter option. On smile the influences range from 90s dance beats , melodies with thrash riffs - mixing more genres than ever before as I was thrilling discovering whilst repeated listening ..

The opening track Our religion starts things off combining benji’s sharp lyrical attack combined with a dark Metallica circa sad but true influence on display.

Gimme that boom the album’s flag ship single is bound to be a mosh pit favourite at their gig not to mention a dead cert encore number

Set fazers the second single which is the most typical and representative of their style with a nu metal flavour. Benji really drives this song home .

Life’s that free - combines thrash with old school ravey dance completed  melodic living colour even a Lenny kravitz flavour

If I could can easily be classed as  a more traditional skindred sound with a killer pop chorus . Surely a hit single if today’s radio stations were capable of providing skindred with them .

Love (smile please) really echoes the mid 1990’s pop fusion with reggae ( ie pata Banton, dawn penn , Chaka Demus and pliers . A great potential hit in waiting showing the lighter side of skindred proving them much more than a metal band ..it’s not surprising that Brian Rawlings production most famed for girls aloud has had some bearing on the sound .

This appointed love takes the traditional reggae approach even further echoing early UB40 and black uhuru in the verse with a heavy rock bullet for my valentine risqué chorus . They make the genre mixing within the same song absolutely effortless..

Black stars boasts a gospel chorus hints at the social and racial problems especially in America experiencing the parademic . Benji is especially not afraid to say what is on his mind here .

State of the union combines 60’s pop keyboards and samples with a light disco vibe with Benji’s combination of toasting and melodic singing to to keep the skindred sound intact ..

Addicted is the most hip hop inspired tune on smile with continuing brass samples making way for Benji‘s public enemy esque with yet another singable chorus..

Mama is nothing to do with anything to do with genesis or the spice girls . Again traditional reggae is fused with subtle dub touches and funky guitar . Again Brian Rawlings light touches transform skindred into more mainstream pop territory to very positive effect.

Unstoppable closes the album in fine style as an instant skindred fan classic and it cartain to become the bands theme song ..

The album’s release has seen benji appear on the good morning sofa and soar to number 2 in the album charts . A sold out uk tour and a series of prestigious festival silt, skindred are destined to become of the uk’s greatest bands. Some would argue they are already are.

Please don’t leave it 5 years until the next one guys ...