De La Soul: The Grind Date

By SCOTT KARA

(Herald Rating: * * )

You really want to like - love even - everything De La Soul do. They are pioneers and really, 3 Feet High And Rising from 1989 remains their finest achievement still. That's a long time ago. Admittedly, 2001's AOI: Bionix, the second in the AOI trilogy, was a masterpiece.

So it's a shame they didn't get to record the third instalment after parting ways with their record company.

But it would have been a highly anticipated finale considering how good Bionix was. Instead, De La penned The Grind Date. You have to ask, have De La Soul finally done an REM after 15 years in the game and run out of puff? The most innovative track here is opener The Future. On it a 70s funk sample urges us to make the future happy and safe for the children - cheesy yes, but somehow it's believable because it sounds robotic - over a minimal beat. It's a glorious start, but overall Grind Date is wearisome. It doesn't go anywhere and it takes guest star Madlib to save the album on the humorous Shopping Bags (She Got From You). And that's not enough. The backing tracks are quirky, clever and at times cute but like the rest of the album they fail to move you. When they do, on Rock Co.Kane Flow say, it lapses into a jittery, mashed up mess. It all means De La are trying hard to keep it fresh but this time round it just seems lacking.

Label: Sanctuary Urban