A band releasing an EP of recordings covering their favorite songs is nothing new. A band doing that while also offering a dub reworking of each is significantly rarer. Especially when it is done this brilliantly. But that is exactly what The Hempolics has done here: three reworkings of classic tracks plus three dub-infused reimaginations.
The current single kicks things off, they take “No Ordinary Love” by soul sensation Sade, and add a sassy reggae groove without losing the smooth, sentimental, and sensual ambiance of the original. As a dub piece, they pull off the same trick even more spectacularly: the groove might get deeper, but the space between the beats and bass runs, the distant, skanking guitar licks, and suitably soft, seductive, and superb vocals is now home to all manner of liquid electronica and digital deliciousness.
If The Frightnrs’ “Nothing More to Say” is already a near-perfect slice of modern reggae, what The Hempolics do here is less change the song, more swathe it in poise and polish, add lusher, richer sonics, make it sound bigger, deeper, broader, without losing what made it so brilliant in the first place. It is the dub version where they get to have their fun, exploding the song into its parts and then putting them back together in a slightly anagrammatic fashion, hitting the perfect point between reverence and revelation.
Suggie Otis is one of those people better known through covers of his music by more prominent artists, so the inclusion of his “Aht Uh Mi Hed” seems more than appropriate, and not least because it is perfect for highlighting The Hempolics genre-hopping nature. Like Otis, their music is shot through with reggae groove and soul sophistication, R&B infectiousness, and jazz adventurousness, and here they pay him perfect tribute whilst shining a spotlight on their own creativity. If their dub rework proves anything, it is that had Otis pursued a path through this genre, his music would have worked brilliantly.
Covers are always interesting. You can either stay faithful to the original or push the song into new, reimagined musical realms. Between the straighter covers and the immaculate dub conceptions, The Hempolics manage to do both. How cool is that? How exceedingly clever is that?
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THE HEMPOLICS – MAY 2026 TOUR
14 May – Bristol, The Jam Jar
15 May – Totnes, The Barrel House
Festivals:
23 May – Cursus Festival, Dorset
24 May – Shindig Festival, Wiltshire
24 May – Bearded Theory, Derbyshire
30 May – London, 229 Club
