On Saturday night of Boomtown Festival 2024, 4am Kru embarked on Origin stage to perform for a crowd of 45,000. Origin is one of the two largest stages of the festival alongside Grand Central. Junglists gathered around the stage all weekend to soak in a range of dance music from DnB to House and Techno–the stage continued its primarily drum and bass legacy with a Hospitality (Hospital Records) takeover throughout the weekend. After its music, Origin stage is famous for its immersive-style visuals that include psychedelic strobe lights and effects–making the festival more of a full sensory experience rather than just an auditory one.
4am Kru was a highly anticipated act this year, following their performance at Boomtown last year at Wrong Side of the Tracks–a smaller stage that got overcrowded due to the large number of festival-goers eager to see the DnB/jungle act live. Rightfully earned, the group took on the main stage this year and put on a show that many highlighted as one of their favourites of the festival. Samples of famous musicians like Little Simz and Stormzy, as well as integrating rap, bhangra, and reggae snippets all made 4am Kru’s performance a standout at Origin.
In September of this year, 4am Kru released their debut album Incognito Rhythm. The title track was the main event of their Boomtown 2024 set, incorporating a Little Simz sample that had crowds jumping. Also featured on the album, “Horns for 2024” is a previously unreleased track that 4am Kru played at a number of their shows, becoming one of their most popular songs to hear live. Many people who have had the opportunity to see them live have been anticipating the release of the track.
In its entirety, Incognito Rhythm is a cohesive collection of upbeat DnB tracks that flow seamlessly into one another. Although samples are a core element of the record, it does not feel sample-heavy in the slightest. As a debut album in a constantly changing genre, it makes an exceptional claim to cement 4am Kru’s name in the Hall of Fame of new jungle. Essentially, the album is a must-listen for junglists looking for new music on the scene. Although the group has been performing and making music for over 4 years, this album release has truly brought them to the next level. The record also includes previous popular singles from 4am Kru such as their most successful hit “High Time” and the crowd jumper “Just Saw Johnny”.
The album rating is 4.5/5, an astonishingly exceptional debut album, reminding listeners that the jungle genre is alive and thriving. Track highlights include: “Ribena”, “High Time” and “Horns For 2024”. It is hard to rate music coming from such immersive, culture-heavy genres because the live aspect is so essential to the experience. Incognito Rhythm is a must-see live album. Their performance at Boomtown was a solid 5/5 life-changing moment, so to see this album live would likely bring it up there.
Fortunately for Edinburgh, 4am Kru is making a stop at Bongo Club on November 28th for their album tour.
“mixing mixer party dance music creative commons” by zoutedrop is licensed under CC BY 2.0.