Authenticity is important to Ben Drew. When playing “a sweet-boy Justin Timberlake” felt hollow to him as an East London kid, a canny repackaging as a hip hop act gave him the opportunity to express his anger at the inequalities he grew up around.

When Plan B gained momentum, Drew’s vocal talents couldn’t be contained: he reinvented himself as a soul man on 2010’s The Defamation Of Strickland Banks.

Now 34, a father, and enjoying the spoils of his success, he’s shelved the intense anger of his raps: Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose is Plan C...

He hasn’t strayed too far from hip hop influences – the chorus of single ‘Mercy’ may be pure gospel, but its D’n’B underpinnings are straight out of grime. “We don’t bow down to no terrorists/ So why we gonna kneel for the politicians?” he rails on ‘Guess Again’. Not the subtlest ever takedown of Tory-led Brexit Britain, but effective nonetheless.

The album’s quieter moments are real highlights, particularly the sweet ska-pop of ‘Wait So Long’ and the heartfelt pleas of recent single ‘Stranger’ – “You treat me like a stranger/ Guess that’s no different from how I treat myself”

Let’s hope Ben Drew doesn’t make himself a stranger again.
Out NOW
7/10