LSB joined the drum 'n' bass major players in 2016

It’s 2016 and d’n’b remains an exciting, diverse, yet divisive world. At a chart-bothering level you have collabs with your mum’s favourite pop bands that no real fan cares about. On a club-busting level the genre is dominated by complex, technical neuro that hits hard but is rarely memorable or translates outside the rave experience. Then, running counterpoint is a movement that’s been doing its own thing with unhurried soulful confidence for years. A deeper, restrained sound that isn’t pristinely produced to digital perfection and doesn’t adhere to the arrangements of high-impact triple-dropping sets. A sound that’s been there all along (see Calibre, High Contrast, Marcus Intalex, Marky) but is enjoying a new thrust of activity with some of the warmest yet rawest and most memorable rollers made since liquid d’n’b’s golden era.

“Vibe-wise that golden mid-2000s era will always inspire me,” explains LSB, aka Luke Beavon, a 34-year-old Tottenham fan, French bulldog owner and maker of warm/raw rollers such as ‘The View’, ‘About Tonight’, ‘If You’re Here’ and ‘Walking Blues’. “It’s hard to assess my own position, or the impact of the type of d’n’b I’m making, but yeah – nights do seem busier and there is more of a buzz, I have to admit.”

After a decade playing the long game, only releasing when he feels the music has something to say, the buzz kicked in around 2015. ‘The View’ (with DRS and Tyler Daley) in particular has gradually attained status as an anti-anthem, its success and scene ubiquity neatly summarising Luke’s slow and steady ethos. But it’s in 2016 that LSB truly became established as a big player in the d’n’b world with the release of his debut album ‘Content’ on Soul:r, which builds on his signature sound and approach. It captured LSB’s widest sonic palette while highlighting his detailed, deliberate approach.

“I thought about the albums I love listening to,” explains Luke, whose favourites this year are Bon Iver’s ‘22, A Million’ and Frank Ocean’s ‘Blonde’. “I love how you can get totally lost inside them. That was the aim: to make an album that people can get lost inside, and hopefully feel how I feel when I’m lost inside an album, and still hearing things on the tenth or twentieth listen that surprise me. If the first listen is the best listen and I’ve given you everything all in one go, then I haven’t done my job.”

2016: job done. Clearly, the best things come to those who wait. Not just in terms of LSB’s own rise and prominence, but most importantly for his listeners too. Keep listening.