Best Rudimental Songs
Three Rudimental tracks, three different voices, three moments you need to hear to understand how they built stadium-sized songs out of the underground.
Feel the Love: the breakthrough
This is the track that made Rudimental a household name in May 2012. John Newman's soulful, urgent vocal sits over a horn-led drum and bass groove that still sounds massive. If you've never heard Rudimental before, stop here. Everything you need to understand the band lives in this one song: horns, bass, soul and a chorus that refuses to apologize for being huge.
Waiting All Night: how they did it twice
The follow-up that proved "Feel the Love" was a blueprint, not a one-off. Released in April 2013, "Waiting All Night" reached number one again and won Best British Single at the 2014 BRIT Awards. Ella Eyre's vocal gives it an anthemic pull that's still a festival singalong staple. The song tells you that Rudimental could do this over and over: find the voice, write the song, hit the top of the chart.
These Days: the configuration
Fast forward to a later era and hear how far the formula travels. "These Days" stacks three voices: Jess Glynne, Macklemore and Dan Caplen all get room to shine, and the song holds together as one of their most instantly recognisable tracks. It's Rudimental proving that the system they built could handle complexity without buckling. More voices, same identity.
Lay It All on Me: the reach
Pairing with Ed Sheeran could have watered things down. One of the UK's biggest solo artists meeting a drum and bass production crew could easily have been a mismatch. But "Lay It All on Me" keeps the low end and the emotion in equal measure because Rudimental didn't chase his sound. They kept theirs and let him fit into it. That's the real skill.