A new Skindred record is always a cause for celebration, and doubly so when it’s as crammed with as much self-belief as ‘You Got This’. While their sound has mellowed of late, like on 2023’s ‘Smile’, their latest offering is somewhat of a return to fiery form: just as potent and destructive but with the warmth of appreciation for those who party with them through the rubble. The biggest difference that Skindred have harnessed in these intervening three years is a recaptured sense of scale. If ‘Smile’ felt like the suburbs around Brixton, ‘You Got This’ is the sound of the open skies over Hyde Park.
The sense of wideness in ambition and scale is encapsulated in the single ‘Can I Get A’, a song surprisingly mild and straightforward by Skindred’s standards but one that takes flight with Benji Webbe’s vocals; the idiosyncratic tether that keeps Skindred grounded. ‘You Got This’ begins to thread the album together, with songs that boost you up before the party. Between quoting AC/DC and an infectious backing in the style of The Rolling Stones’ ‘Sympathy For The Devil’, it’s a hell of a festival manifesto. ’Born Fe Dis’ takes Webbe’s growl to new depths. With jolts like a stubbed toe, it’s impossible to resist the blunt confidence that each bar instils, and ‘My People’ jacks you into the pure Skindred party energy that’s keeps them making pits wherever they go.
If we’re in the business of predicting singles, then ‘Big Em Up’ has to be the next on their hit-list, and it’s also the biggest hallmark of Skindred’s accelerating modernisation. They aren’t content to exist in their own genre hybrid world any longer, and judging by the song’s dramatic beats and the increasingly complex riffs that drop by the end of the track, they’re accelerating attempts to reconnect with the world. Webs of community are what powers ‘You Got This’, and songs like ‘Do It Like This’, which plays with a re-worked nu-metal sound, demonstrate that they’re aiming to extend their bling tentacles even further.
That is, of course, if they avoid the trap which they have previously always fallen into: namely, to load up every album with a couple of killer singles at the expense of the rest of the record, with power thus unsustained over the entirety of the release. While it’s true that they’re still following this formula, the filler tracks on ‘You Got This’ have a charm that elevates them above the skippable. Take ‘Broke’, a slice-of-life track with a sunny beat about the Tesco Basics lifestyle. Its sweetness is tempered with a dash of comic bitterness about the state of the world to make for a better-than-average Skindred fluff track. Similarly, ‘Give Thanks’ might be somewaht un-metal, but as a heartfelt closer bursting with appreciation for their families? – it works as a gorgeous finale to an album of feel good tunes. Meanwhile, delving into the personal on ‘Glass’ – Webbe’s tribute to those he’s loved and lost – makes for a ballad with some serious heat. While Skindred have always been a singles band, it looks like they’ve sidestepped the dark side of this talent with a more balanced offering this time.
There’s so much to love about ‘You Got This’. The sense of gratitude that stems from every song – alongside the accelerating ambition that bounces from every dancehall metal second of their latest release – makes for a winning formula. We’re left with a question: If ‘Smile’ made it to number two in the UK Chart, how high can ‘You Got This’ take Skindred? No matter where it takes them, they’ll be slamming with a smile on their face and a resolute belief in the joy of an original sound.
Kate Allvey