It’s been over eighteen years since British musicians Jake Wherry and Ollie Teeba first paired up and began exploring their love of jazz, funk, dub, and hip hop together. Over the years they’ve toyed with which aspects of their sound they’d like to emphasize and explore the most, but this balance between everything, from sampling, scratching, live instrumentation, soul and rock vocalists, and widely varied emcees, has all contributed to a sound that is unique to The Herbaliser. With their seventh album, appropriately titled There Were Seven, we find them as balanced and confident as ever.

The Herbaliser got started on Ninja Tune back in 1995, and with instrumental tracks like “Mother Dove,” one can easily see why they were such a good fit for so many years. “Mother Dove” is incredibly well developed, managing to be both extremely funky and soothing at the same time, with a really gentle and simple melody coming over the top of all sorts of busy instrumentation, including drums and bass that in isolation could easily take the track in a more aggressive direction. If the album was just this, you’d have more than enough to work with and keep you interested, and it would be better than 90% of the instrumental hip hop albums put out this year. On this album, however, that’s just one piece of the puzzle. The most interesting pairing on the record is the multiple tracks they did in collaboration with Twin Peaks, the duo of Toronto/Halifax emcees Muneshine and Ghettosocks. Together, they find a good balance between the gritty sound of London hip hop and the playful funk that comes out of the Backburner crew. Twin Peaks does an excellent job of balancing some clever and funny references and turns of phrase with some serious political rhymes that aligns with the production that The Herbaliser lays down perfectly. My personal favorite of these tracks is “Crimes and Misdemeanors,” which channels some G Funk, and then mixes it with some dub and a touch of ‘70s exploitation film scores. Of course, this isn’t the only collaboration on the record. London vocalist Hannah Clive’s contribution helps “The Lost Boy” recall Portishead, and George the Poet, also from London, lays down some brilliant rhymes about his personal identity and the larger political picture that really elevates the album and had me scrambling to find out more about him.

The Herbaliser are a unique talent, and after all these years, they sound just as strong and inspired as ever. It’s hard to say if There Were Seven is their best album to date, but I think it has to be in the conversation. The balance they struck between all the different styles they incorporate is fantastic, and there are some absolutely brilliant individual tracks on the record. It’s a complex record that rewards on initial listen, then continues to deliver the more you dive in.