I saw Ben Drew t’other day plugging this new record on BBC Breakfast which is perhaps an unsettling sign of the Plan B times. I mean, this is still the geezer who rapped “I'll stab you in the eye, yo, with a fucking biro”, on ‘No Good’, taken from his 2006 debut album Who Needs Actions When You Got Words. But then maybe I’ve just not been paying attention to celebrity culture over the years. Ben Drew is in his mid-30s now after all and has enjoyed the voyage of fatherhood. That’s not to mention Drew’s diversions into – with significant success – acting, directing and producing that have arrived over the past decade too. So what does this mean for the first Plan B material in six years? Sure, we have a different Plan B before us these days but this is also a reinvigorated Plan B with a fresh perspective, diving into unchartered waters and exploring personal issues closer to home now instead of the attacks on Broken Britain that he had become synonymous with. Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose detours from what people come to expect from Plan B. Instead of roots UK hip hop you’re more likely to find a particularly pop-centred record here, soulful and affectional in place of the anger and intensity we’ve seen previously. Needless to say, a man of Drew’s experience, successes and song writing prowess can’t do much wrong and – whether Heaven hits the dizzying highs of previous efforts or not – this is sure to appease the followers. Audio Tracklist 1. Grateful2. Stranger3. Heartbeat4. Queue Jumping5. Wait So Long6. Pushin'7. Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose8. It's A War9. Guess Again10. Flesh & Bone11. Pursuit of Happiness12. Mercy13. Deeper14. Sepia Details Released: May 2018Cat: 0190295716813 / Atlantic
