4 Hero - The Evolution of Music

4Hero's journey has been an incredible one and quite possibly beyond the wildest dreams of its members Mark 'Marc Mac' Clair and 'Dego' McFarlane. Back in the late '80s and early '90s, the young London boys (joined by Ian Bardouille and Gus Lawrence at that time) aided by a ramshackle studio, antique electronic gear and a love of all things music, set about combining a range of genres, becoming intrinsic in the development of what we now know as Jungle / Drum & Bass.

Their first jungle album, In Rough Territory, arrived almost sixteen years ago, following the creation of their pirate radio station Strong Island FM and the Reinforced Records imprint. The album was streets ahead of anything else available, encompassing production techniques and breakbeats within a genre that didn't become widely noticed until a few years later. By that time 4Hero had already moved on, lending their skills to a smoother, more polished, and generally more melodic sound. Their superior studio knowledge, which helped bring such prolific figures as Goldie to the forefront, soon came to the attention of the industry's front-runners, and '94's Parallel Universe appeared as NME's Dance album of the year in '95.

4Hero derive their influences from much more than breakbeats and bass: hip hop, jazz, soul, techno and jungle came together to create Two Pages in 1998, released on Giles Peterson's Talkin' Loud. It found favour with the label boss/Radio 1 DJ's infatuation with cutting edge soul and the album was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize that same year, being hailed as one of the most successful cross-over albums of its time.

In an effort to continue on the forward thinking path Marc Mac and Dego have, in various guises, created both independent and collaborative albums, remixing everything from the Isley Brothers to Louie Vega. The change in their styles has allowed them to work with vocalists such as Jill Scott and Ursula Rocker, while maintaining their place as prominent and respected leaders of an avant-garde jungle / drum and bass sound. Thankfully, they are nowhere near finishing up. 4Hero's newest album, Play With The Changes, has just hit the shops almost six years after their last artist album, inviting a whirlwind of attention from every corner of the globe. The duo have created an adorable modern soul classic which oozes charisma and features a host of remarkable vocalists, including Grammy Award-winning Jody Watley and Bugz in the Attic's Kaidi Tatham. The release incorporates tracks with waves of strings and live funk beats with soul-fuelled electronica riding on the back of Rhodes chords. The album's opener, 'Morning Child', would slip effortlessly into the late 60s R&B genre, while if this were a d&b album, 'Awakening' would be the dubstep track; beats with flowing orchestral sounds and rhymes by poetess Ursula Rocker. Also featured is a fantastic cover of Stevie Wonder's 'Superwoman', and it's rumoured that the live tour could have an artist headcount of twenty-two. 4Hero are a flat-out production marvel who will continue generating an astounding design for the future of music.