After a tremendous, er, three-star performance at Glastonbury festival, the Maccabees have a new scheme on the horizon – a collaboration with Roots Manuva. First intimated in March, the rock-rap team-up appears to be happening, with Manuva expressing great enthusiasm for some "Maccabees and Rooty-toot manoeuvres".
Earlier this spring, Maccabees guitarist Felix White praised the Mercury prize nominee, telling BBC 6 Music that he thought Manuva's latest record was "unbelievable".
"If Roots Manuva happens to hear this, we really want him to do a song with us," White said. "I just want to give him a song and see what he could do with it."
Though the artists have yet to meet, Manuva responded to White's invitation this weekend, telling the Brighton-based band, "Come round on Monday or Tuesday ... Let's get this going."
The Maccabees' nervy anthems may not seem to have much in common with Manuva's wonky boom-bap, but the London rapper said that listeners need to look deeper than just surface aesthetics. "Rock is more than just rock'n'roll," he said opaquely. "Rock is a child of jazz, and hip-hop is a child of rock'n'roll so it's all one big extension of sonic fun and frivolousness."
In other words, Manuva and the Maccabees are "perfect bedfellows". "The song value and just the drasticness of what they do is really similar [to my music]," he explained. "It's right up my street."
