Seba Returns to Forever
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Label: Combination Records
Year: 2008
Format: CD
Swedish musician Sebastian Ahrenberg a.k.a. Seba has had a long and illustrious career on the drum & bass and breakbeat scene – with the occasional foray into progressive house for his Sunday Brunch alter ego together with countryman Jesper Dahlbäck. Knowing of this connection, it thus makes sense to see the reworking of Breaks Selection into a housey affair crop up in this latest album from Seba – namely Return To Forever, having come out on Combination Records back in 2008. With drum & bass solo albums if often feels like a compilation of previously released single cuts, and though “Return To Forever” shares this characteristic it also introduces new material which has spurred on the release of some single 12“s following the album. But this is not an entire album of thumping drum & bass rollers, but also comprises a selection of smokey, jazzy pieces with a sauntering piano overture such as in “Silicone” – which feels both like good old-style Blame and Big Bud in the Good Looking days; an era long gone now but one which helped cement Seba’s name in the stars of a fluctuous drum & bass sky.
The genre has suffered many blows in its musical direction. Apart from some successful branches off into deep, atmospheric sounds from the likes of Deeper Sounds collective, and the harder, jungle-purists of breakbeat d&b and its countless subgenres predominantly represented by the Subvert Central crew, the drum & bass genre has little fresh to offer these days. Though there are exceptions to the rule. And while Seba has already been covered by one of the aforementioned collectives, his music has never failed to be inspiring, and albums signed by this prolific Swedish musician has always got this old drum & bass head pulse racing and ears pricked to attention. The album highlights come in the form of “Blaze And Fade Out” – one which sees guest vocalist Krister Linder propel the breakbeat-driven tune forward on a pop tip, whereas long-time collaborator Robert Manos features in other tracks. The coupling of slick vocal tunes with seemingly easy, yet crisp and driving, production which does not delve into the world of production technology and new techniques is a formula Seba has refined to perfection – and as a result the album sits very nicely and feels timeless, possibly like Seba’s own old skool material for Metalheadz, Reinforced or Good Looking or his own Secret Operations – but more importantly the album distinguishes itself severely from many other drum & bass solo albums that hardly ever get noticed or simply induce long yawns.
Definitely worth checking!
Web resources:
Seba and Krazy at myspace
Combination Records label website
Secret Operations label website
