High Contrast

Seemingly out of nowhere, High Contrast emerged as one of the most talked-about drum'n'bass producers in recent memory. Not since Goldie and Roni Size crafted full-length albums instead of isolated tracks back in the late '90s had a drum'n'bass artist drawn comparable attention. Cardiff, Wales native Lincoln Barrett, the person behind the High Contrast name, stayed grounded amid the attention and handled the acclaim with composure. At just 22 he completed True Colors, a bold double-disc debut that industry observers viewed as carrying real mainstream promise. Breakbeat Science, the New York label, championed the project enough to issue it even though Barrett was still relatively unknown on the American drum'n'bass circuit. His 2004 follow-up, High Society, spotlighted the light single "Racing Green." Tough Guys Don't Dance arrived in 2007 and contained a reinterpretation of Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" alongside guest appearances by Diane Charlemagne, Ian Shaw, J'nay, and Linda Gail Lewis. BBC Radio 1 selected the album as its essential mix for that year. Subsequent work found him reworking material for Adele, Utah Saints, Japanese pop queen Ayumi Hamasaki, Coldplay, Kanye, and Eric Prydz, while also teaming with Underworld and Axwell. A double-album retrospective titled Confidential collected his most notable tracks and prominent remixes. Nearly five years passed after Tough Guys before his fourth album, The Agony & the Ecstasy, appeared in 2009. In 2012 he joined Underworld bandmembers to compose music for the London Summer Olympics opening ceremony. Later that same year the digital-only EP The Road Goes on Forever surfaced. He resurfaced in 2013 with the single "Spectrum Analyser," then quickly issued the 2014 follow-up "Who's Loving You" featuring Clare Maguire. "How Love Begins," a 2016 collaboration with DJ Fresh that included Dizzee Rascal, marked his next outing. Contrast remained active through 2017, launching the year with the Questions EP and unveiling his sixth album, Night Gallery, in the autumn. That record signaled a clear shift in sound, drawing from rave, rock, Northern soul, and assorted ambient sources. The 2020 collection Remixes and Rarities preceded his seventh album, Notes from the Underground, which embraced an old-skool jungle approach.