Toast to our Differences

“Rudimental is a finishing school,” Amir Amor tells Apple Music. “We train our vocalists up, and when they’re ready to fly, we release them into the wild.” The multi-genre London collective’s third album features another vast roster of talent, but this time with a more international, multicultural flavor. “This group is a prime example of the good that comes from difference, and how those differences feed off one another. It’s helped us make our most cohesive album.” Here, Amor goes through Toast to Our Differences track by track.

“Toast to Our Differences (feat. Shungudzo, Protoje & Hak Baker)”
“Fittingly, it was one of the first ones we wrote. It was around the time Brexit was happening and Trump was being elected and feelings were really high about people being divided and the mainstream world becoming more right-wing. We weren’t intentionally trying to put out a big message. It’s more of an observation.”

“Let Me Live (feat. Anne-Marie & Mr Eazi)” with Major Lazer
“We had worked on this with Mr. Eazi, but it felt like it was missing something. Then we suddenly thought, ‘Diplo would be great for this.’ He came through to my studio [Major Tom, in London] and sat up at the controls working on the beats with me, so it felt right for it to be a true collaboration rather than a feature.”

“Dark Clouds (feat. Jess Glynne & Chronixx)”
“When I put that robot voice on at the beginning, the label thought I was joking. ‘You’re putting Jess Glynne through a vocoder? Are you mad?’ I love this track. We actually wrote this around the time of [2013 debut album] Home. I came across it on my hard drive and it was like finding a nugget of gold down the back of the sofa.”

“Walk Alone (feat. Tom Walker)”
“We came across Tom four or five years ago when he sent us a demo. Things always happen as they should, so we went around the houses for a bit before finding the right song. We shouted him about this one, as it made sense to have him for the album’s big emotional moment. He’s got a lot of wisdom in his voice.”

“Thula Ungakhlai (feat. Ladysmith Black Mambazo)”/“These Days (feat. Jess Glynne, Macklemore & Dan Caplen)”
“It’s an unforgettable, emotional thing to hear Ladysmith Black Mambazo, so it felt very apt for ‘These Days.’ But because it’s quite a busy track, we didn’t feel we could do them justice, so we moved them onto this special intro. We’d met Macklemore on an Ed Sheeran tour—he was just hanging around a few of the gigs—and he was super-easy to work with. You can really feel it when an MC's just been given some money to record a verse—the listener can feel it, we can feel it, and none of us will be happy. Having this as a single was a bold move, as it’s the slowest tempo track we’ve put out. But we needed to shake things up a bit. And it worked! We knocked Drake off the top of the UK charts to get a No. 1 single.”

“Sun Comes Up (feat. James Arthur)”
“If you leave the studio and you’re still singing a chorus a week later, you know you’ve done something right. We had heard James on a radio interview saying that he didn’t want to do any collaborations unless it was with Rudimental. So we were like, ‘challenge accepted.’ The song made sense for him at the time as he was going through his difficulties and the lyrics really resonated for him. His renaissance sort of started here, which was nice.”

“1by1 (feat. RAYE & Maleek Berry)”
“RAYE is someone we’d wanted to work with for ages. I think she’s got the most potential out of the UK artists and she’s going to get bigger and bigger.”

“Last Time (feat. Raphaella)”
“Raphaella is so sick. We’d just come back from our Ibiza residency a few summers ago when we did this one, so we were definitely strong on that Balearic, euphoric-house feeling.”

“No Pain (feat. Maverick Sabre, Kojey Radical & Kabaka Pyramid)”
“This and 'They Don’t Care About Us' are the backbone of the album. Maverick is a very underrated guy. He’s a real artists’ artist. He’s pure soul and won’t be confined to any one box, which makes it harder to bring him out to the mainstream—but it works perfectly for us.”

“Scared of Love (feat. Ray BLK & Stefflon Don)”
“Ray is one of the purest voices representing the UK. Steff is just a force of nature, all by being herself. It’s a very vulnerable song, so we didn’t want anyone who might tip it over into becoming something too defeated, and went for singers with real strength. I like it because it defies what you’d usually expect to hear from both artists—especially Steff.”

“Summer Love” with Rita Ora
“Rita and I wrote this at the tail end of summer, so we developed this nostalgic feel with the lyrics. It’s all about chasing the sun. She’s one of the hardest working people I’ve met. Despite what people might say about her—the different record deals and dismissing her as a “celebrity” or whatever—she comes back and smashes it every time.”

“They Don't Care About Us (feat. Maverick Sabre & YEBBA)”
“We heard YEBBA on a YouTube video and almost immediately flew her over from Mississippi. We spent a few days working on songs, including this one that we had been developing with Maverick. It’s been brilliant that she’s become so in-demand now, but we always have our eyes open for new talent.”

“Do You Remember (feat. Kevin Garrett)”
“We did this one in New York and had a little list of people we wanted to reach out to. Kevin’s one of the most unassuming people we’ve met—you would have no idea he’s been writing smashes with Beyoncé. One of those really easy, flowing songs that came out in a matter of two hours. Kevin had a lot to say lyrically.”

“Leave It for Tomorrow (feat. Elli Ingram)”
“Elli is a proper free spirit. She got involved in rewriting a lot of the lyrics we and YEBBA had done, and her character has ended up right across the track as those lines were very personal to her. When Elli's in the room, she has to have her stamp on a song. You can also hear YEBBA on backing vocals here.”

“Adrenaline (feat. OLIVIA)”
“If I look back to Home, eight of the vocalists we worked with were unsigned when it came out. They all got signed as soon as the album came out. Watch out for OLIVIA.”