Urban Notion

Welsh drum& bass wonder High Contrast exploded onto the electronic music scene in 2002 when his debut longplayer True Colours was released on Hospital Records. Dubbed “the future of drum & bass”, High Contrast’s take on drum & bass - heavy, low-end beats and breaks with yearning, orchestral flourishes and splices of jazz vocals - hit a nerve. The critically acclaimed True Colours was named in the top ten albums of the year by a slew of mags including URB, BPM, XLR8R, Remix, Lotus, Mixer and Rinse. Several British publications cited it in their top 100 electronic albums of all time. Not bad for a 21-year old complete unknown from Wales signed on the strength of his mini-disc demos.

Since then, the rise of High Contrast (aka Lincoln Barrett) has been breathtaking. Prolific in his musical output (he habitually has anywhere from five to twenty tracks in the works at any one time) and with DJs like Grooverider and Roni Size flogging his tunes, High Contrast has become remixer of choice for many labels inside and outside of the drum and bass community. From making tunes in his bedroom to deejaying worldwide to sell out crowds, he’s become a regular at London clubs like Fabric, and on the outernational DJ circuit. “I’m primarily interested in making dance floor drum and bass, but at the same time being musical and soulful, so DJing helps me see what works on the floor.” High Contrast’s reputation in the drum & bass community has only gotten stronger and stronger.

His latest album High Society has set a new benchmark of excellence for drum & bass and for electronic music at large. Tracks feature some of the biggest vocal talents in UK hip-hop and Grime alongside the best drum & bass tunes since Reprazent and Goldie.