How the Stereos got their groove back

WHEN THE STEREO MCs released Deep Down & Dirty in 2001, their first album after a nine-year hiatus, it was with a sense of unease, rather than a celebration of the band's return.

'Re-entering orbit,' said frontman Rob Birch twitchily on the tense title track. And it was an aggressive, rather wired album that reintroduced Stereo MCs to a public who had heard or seen little activity since 1992's acclaimed Connected LP.

Birch says his mood and that of Stereo MCs partner Nick Hallam (the band also comprises drummer Owen Rossiter and vocalist Cath Coffey) around the release of Deep Down & Dirty was defensive - as if any minute they expected a door to swing open and a mob to be waiting to pounce.

'I think unconsciously we had to come out with our fists up,' says Birch from his home in Brixton, London. 'Because the press in England can really turn on you. Everybody was saying that if it's not as successful as Connected, then we're a failure. And if you're a failure in England, people turn their back on you.

'So we really felt like we had to come out with our fists up and be ready for the bulls***. And I think we were right. We had to come out in a warrior stance, because we felt that was the only way we could deal with the music business at that point. It was really a bit like we'd been boxed up, dead, ready to be buried, but then we were punching the lid off the coffin.'

Birch says the nine-year break between Connected and Deep Down & Dirty - a period during which many acts would have imploded - was necessary for him and Hallam to try to pick up the pieces of their dysfunctional personal lives.

'It was a very stressed-out period where we both had our own life problems going on,' he says. 'The music business can suck the s*** out of you really. And I think because of overexposure, overtouring and overworking, we realised we hadn't attended to our personal lives.

'And when you get home and realise that everything's gone down the pan, you also realise it's pretty important to have a life other than just promoting a record. You kind of feel like an empty shell of a person and I think that really was the hardest period for us.

'But, look, nobody said it would be easy. Why should it be? It's the greatest profession to be in, and it's a great job to do, when you think about it. So why shouldn't there be ups and downs to it? You can't expect it to be all great without any s*** bits. There's got to be some f***ing struggle in it, hasn't there? Otherwise it wouldn't be worth doing.'

The band's return this year, however, sees them reinvigorated and re-energised after taking care of some housekeeping. They had to spend time in court escaping their contract with Universal Music, and they sacked their previous management. They now have their own independent record label, Graffiti Recordings, through which they'll release all future Stereo MCs music, a new management team and, more importantly, a new album.

'We're doing it all the way we want to do it now,' says Birch. 'We're getting the artwork how we want it. We're getting remixes how we want them. We're making our records how we want them, without any wankers putting their oar in the water. Our new managers have very positive reflections on our music. We trust them and they believe in us, which is more than any of those other twats did.

'And that's just what we needed - someone who believed in us and who could give us positive energy, and I think the new record reflects the change in mood.'

Paradise can be viewed as a more natural successor to the early 1990s funk/soul groove of Connected than the severe Deep Down & Dirty. Birch says the relaxed feel with which they made the new record was a hark back to the old days - perhaps to the late 80s, when Stereo MCs were one of the progenitors of British hip-hop, or maybe to Supernatural (1990) and Connected albums, with which they became key players in the acid-house movement.

'Once you get on a flow with music, things seem to happen pretty quickly,' says Birch. 'I think the difficult part is actually finding your direction, but with this record - like any other, really - once we'd found our flow, things came together pretty fast.'

Paradise has a more laidback feel than its predecessor, although some may find its laconic grooves a little unsatisfying after the intensity of Deep Down & Dirty.

It's a more soulful album, with liquid grooves stitched to the band's trademark lush production. Female vocalists - such as Stephanie McKay (whose torch-singer turn on the jazzy hyper-ballad The Fear is a standout), Sharon Woolf, former Massive Attack singer Sara J and Cath Coffey - juxtapose with and complement Birch's fiery singing/rapping.

Other highlights include the trip-hop crackle of First Love, on which a sped-up Birch duets with himself, the brass-fuelled swing of Float On, the clipped beats and dreamy contemplation of Paradise and the voodoo edginess and basement breakout rap on Breathe Out.

'To a degree, we just want to reflect what we are,' says Birch. 'We're a bunch of people who live in southwest London in a pretty thriving, vibrant environment. It's full of life, full of ups and downs, and we just want to reflect that and try to put out some uplifting vibes and energy. I think that what we've done is actually relaxed a bit and enjoyed making a record without trying to foresee what's going to happen to it. I think that's why it's so colourful and quite a versatile record.'

Because their new label will enable them to make music in a more comfortable manner, Birch says there'll be more Stereo MCs records, hopefully with more regularity than in recent years.

And despite receiving little credit over the years for their pioneering role in British hip-hop (their 1987 album 33 45 78 was one of the form's earliest examples), Birch downplays the rough ride the band have endured from the press over the years.

'I think we've still feel got a lot to accomplish, so we're not really about collecting accolades,' he says. 'I don't really mind what people feel about that sort of thing. We're just glad to be here doing it after this amount of time, to still be making records. I feel quite proud of that. I feel, like, wow, here I am, I've been doing this since the 1980s and we're still making relevant music, current music, contemporary music and still DJ-ing out in clubs to young people.'

Paradise is out now