{"id":2092625,"date":"2025-10-15T10:05:28","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T10:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2092625"},"modified":"2025-10-15T10:05:28","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T10:05:28","slug":"you-dont-need-all-the-latest-plugins-and-everything-else-i-think-that-my-best-instrument-is-the-mind-adam-f-on-making-90s-dnb-classic-colours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/you-dont-need-all-the-latest-plugins-and-everything-else-i-think-that-my-best-instrument-is-the-mind-adam-f-on-making-90s-dnb-classic-colours\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cYou don&#8217;t need all the latest plugins and everything else. I think that my best instrument is the mind\u201d: Adam F on making &#8217;90s DnB classic Colours"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<div class=\"youtube-video youtube-facade\" data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"BDpBBO1_n1I\">\n<div class=\"video-aspect-box\">\n<div class=\"watch-on-iframe-BDpBBO1_n1I\" data-yt-video-token=\"BDpBBO1_n1I\" title=\"Adam F on how he made \u201890s classic Colours\u2026 and why he\u2019s re-recording it for 2025 - In the studio - YouTube\">\n<span class=\"youtube-video-title\">Adam F on how he made \u201890s classic Colours\u2026 and why he\u2019s re-recording it for 2025 &#8211; In the studio &#8211; YouTube<\/span><br \/>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"play-button\" viewbox=\"0 0 234.67 165.33\"><path fill=\"red\" d=\"M229.763 25.817c-2.699-10.162-10.65-18.165-20.748-20.881C190.716 0 117.333 0 117.333 0S43.951 0 25.651 4.936C15.553 7.652 7.6 15.655 4.903 25.817 0 44.236 0 82.667 0 82.667s0 38.429 4.903 56.85C7.6 149.68 15.553 157.681 25.65 160.4c18.3 4.934 91.682 4.934 91.682 4.934s73.383 0 91.682-4.934c10.098-2.718 18.049-10.72 20.748-20.882 4.904-18.421 4.904-56.85 4.904-56.85s0-38.431-4.904-56.85\"\/><path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"m93.333 117.559 61.333-34.89-61.333-34.894z\"\/><\/svg><br \/>\n<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"watch-on-youtube-BDpBBO1_n1I\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/BDpBBO1_n1I\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/BDpBBO1_n1I\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\">Watch On <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"youtube-logo\" viewbox=\"0 0 507.9 113.39\"><g fill=\"#fff\"><path d=\"M64.792 80.99V32.396l42.082 24.297zm93.803-63.285a20.285 20.285 0 0 0-14.32-14.32C131.642 0 80.99 0 80.99 0S30.337 0 17.705 3.385a20.286 20.286 0 0 0-14.32 14.32C0 30.338 0 56.693 0 56.693S0 83.049 3.385 95.68A20.285 20.285 0 0 0 17.705 110c12.632 3.386 63.285 3.386 63.285 3.386s50.652 0 63.285-3.386a20.284 20.284 0 0 0 14.32-14.32c3.385-12.632 3.385-38.988 3.385-38.988s0-26.355-3.385-38.988m94.473 74.326c.887-2.314 1.332-6.098 1.332-11.35V58.556c0-5.097-.445-8.822-1.332-11.178-.888-2.355-2.452-3.533-4.69-3.533-2.163 0-3.69 1.178-4.577 3.533-.888 2.356-1.332 6.081-1.332 11.178V80.68c0 5.25.424 9.035 1.275 11.35.848 2.318 2.392 3.475 4.633 3.475 2.239 0 3.803-1.157 4.691-3.475zm-17.953 11.122c-3.207-2.16-5.486-5.52-6.835-10.079-1.352-4.554-2.027-10.617-2.027-18.185v-10.31c0-7.644.771-13.784 2.316-18.417 1.544-4.633 3.956-8.011 7.24-10.135 3.282-2.123 7.587-3.186 12.916-3.186 5.251 0 9.459 1.082 12.626 3.243 3.165 2.162 5.482 5.542 6.95 10.136 1.466 4.595 2.2 10.715 2.2 18.36v10.31c0 7.567-.714 13.65-2.142 18.243-1.43 4.595-3.747 7.955-6.951 10.077-3.205 2.124-7.548 3.186-13.03 3.186-5.64 0-10.06-1.082-13.263-3.243m248.053-57.981c-.81 1.005-1.352 2.646-1.621 4.923-.272 2.278-.404 5.734-.404 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0-8.185-1.543-10.425-4.633-2.24-3.087-3.359-7.915-3.359-14.48V34.23h15.985v52.126c0 3.168.348 5.426 1.043 6.776.695 1.353 1.853 2.027 3.475 2.027 1.39 0 2.722-.423 3.996-1.275 1.274-.849 2.22-1.928 2.838-3.241V34.229h15.986m81.995.001v71.007h-12.511l-1.391-8.688h-.345c-3.402 6.564-8.498 9.845-15.292 9.845-4.711 0-8.186-1.543-10.426-4.633-2.24-3.087-3.358-7.915-3.358-14.48V34.23h15.985v52.126c0 3.168.347 5.426 1.041 6.776.696 1.353 1.855 2.027 3.476 2.027 1.391 0 2.723-.423 3.996-1.275 1.275-.849 2.22-1.928 2.839-3.241V34.229h15.985\"\/><path d=\"M365.552 20.908h-15.87v84.329h-15.637v-84.33h-15.869V8.05h47.376v12.858m76.811 53.636c0 5.174-.215 9.229-.639 12.162-.424 2.937-1.139 5.021-2.143 6.255-1.004 1.236-2.357 1.854-4.053 1.854a7.404 7.404 0 0 1-3.65-.927c-1.12-.618-2.026-1.544-2.722-2.78V50.796c.54-1.93 1.467-3.513 2.78-4.749 1.313-1.234 2.74-1.853 4.285-1.853 1.623 0 2.876.637 3.766 1.91.886 1.275 1.505 3.418 1.853 6.43.348 3.011.523 7.297.523 12.857zm14.652-28.964c-.967-4.478-2.531-7.721-4.692-9.73-2.163-2.007-5.136-3.011-8.919-3.011-2.935 0-5.676.83-8.224 2.49a16.926 16.926 0 0 0-5.908 6.545h-.117l.001-37.416h-15.405v100.777h13.204l1.622-6.717h.347c1.235 2.393 3.088 4.285 5.56 5.675 2.47 1.39 5.213 2.085 8.225 2.085 5.404 0 9.382-2.491 11.931-7.471 2.548-4.982 3.823-12.76 3.823-23.341V64.23c0-7.953-.484-14.17-1.448-18.65\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"49285aa5-07de-427d-8534-973c603558ef\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.musicradar.com\/recordingweek25\" target=\"_blank\" data-before-rewrite-redirect=\"https:\/\/www.musicradar.com\/recordingweek25%20\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.musicradar.com\/recordingweek25\"><strong>RECORDING WEEK 2025:<\/strong><\/a><strong> Released in 1997, Colours, the debut album from Adam Fenton \u2013 aka Adam F \u2013 is an undisputed classic of drum &amp; bass. Combining chopped breaks and synth basslines with jazz-indebted melodies and guest spots from the likes of Tracy Thorn, Grooverider and the late MC Conrad, the album showcased a song-focused, eclectic take on dance music. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat&#8217;s good about when you first make music is that it&#8217;s coming from a very innocent place,\u201d Fenton tells us, when we sit down to discuss that album\u2019s creation. \u201cIt&#8217;s very honest and it&#8217;s very organic. And that&#8217;s what the Colours album was about.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" id=\"elk-seasonal\" href=\"\" data-url=\"\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\"\/><\/p>\n<aside data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\" class=\"hawk-root\"\/>\n<p id=\"49285aa5-07de-427d-8534-973c603558ef-2\">Fenton wasn\u2019t entirely inexperienced when it came to making his debut album. Adam comes from a musical family, including his father, the singer and actor Alvin Stardust, aka Shane Fenton. His formative years saw him playing a variety of instruments and experimenting with recording from a young age.<\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-recirculation-type=\"inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Trending Bar\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"clear-both pt-3 pb-4 mb-4 border-solid border-y border-neutral-300\">\n<span class=\"font-article-heading block pb-3 !text-base font-bold uppercase sm:text-sm text-[#333]\"><br \/>\nYou may like<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cI started making music when I was about 14 or 15,\u201d Fenton tells us. \u201cI guess back then, a lot of people had a reel-to-reel as a recording facility. I had a Tascam 388, which is a reel-to-reel with a built-in little mini mixing desk with eight tracks. My experience with recording artists or musicians or, you know, any kind of instrumentation or synthesizers was just from recording my own music. That&#8217;s how I learned to record music.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was also in a funk band, and used to go around London and actually perform and play with live musicians. I&#8217;d sing at the front of the funk band. So I was used to playing with musicians and then recording my own music.\u201c<\/p>\n<p id=\"31847816-3fd0-42f2-ae2a-7d71e2c638c6\">Despite its influence, Colours has long been difficult to get hold of, either on streaming platforms or in physical form. This year, Adam F is tackling that head-on with the release of <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/adamf.bandcamp.com\/album\/colours-revisited\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-url=\"https:\/\/adamf.bandcamp.com\/album\/colours-revisited\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\">Colours Revisited<\/a>, which sees Adam not only remastering the tracks, but re-recording much of the original material \u2013 even going so far as restoring the vintage instruments involved.<\/p>\n<p>To mark its release, we met up with Fenton in London&#8217;s <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/worldheartbeatstudios.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-url=\"https:\/\/worldheartbeatstudios.co.uk\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\">World Heart Beat Studios<\/a> for an in-depth chat about the original album and the process of reworking it. You can watch that interview in full in the video above.<\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-vjuLMTFCegS8vGSmbmxCXT\" class=\"slice-container newsletter-inbodyContent-slice newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-vjuLMTFCegS8vGSmbmxCXT slice-container-newsletterForm\">\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" class=\"newsletter-form__wrapper newsletter-form__wrapper--inbodyContent\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form__container\">\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__top-bar\"\/>\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__main-section\">\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">Want all the hottest music and gear news, reviews, deals, features and more, direct to your inbox? Sign up here. <\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" id=\"elk-4b304db5-765b-45e3-872e-defe40194f70\" href=\"\" data-url=\"\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\"\/><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"recording-colours-3\">Recording Colours<\/h2>\n<p id=\"e6f9f41e-a012-488d-9a84-baac00e51e6b\">\u201cThe original Colours album was made in a bedroom studio,\u201d he tells us. \u201cI had analogue equipment. I had an Atari STe with Notator, which later became Logic and which had a giant dongle that you used to plug in to the side of the computer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen I had an Allen &amp; Heath mixing desk, which I loved for the analogue EQs. I had a few compressors, a DAT machine, CD player, a record player, Fender Rhodes, a vocoder, and a clavinet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It sounds like a fairly envy-inducing line-up of gear, particularly compared to the in-the-box home studios we\u2019re used to today, but Fenton explains that the studio was slowly put together piece-by-piece.<\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-recirculation-type=\"inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Trending Bar\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"clear-both pt-3 pb-4 mb-4 border-solid border-y border-neutral-300\">\n<span class=\"font-article-heading block pb-3 !text-base font-bold uppercase sm:text-sm text-[#333]\"><br \/>\nYou may like<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cIt sounds like a lot of stuff, but this was stuff that I&#8217;d earned and bought from working in my own stall at Camden Lock,\u201d he says. \u201cI used to sell tea and coffee, and walk up and down Camden Lock selling Rasta posters and records, and then busking in the evening. I&#8217;d then go to buy a bit of equipment and add it to my bedroom studio.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are a couple of people that have worked on the reboots for the new version of the album that used to come down to that bedroom studio near Watford and pay me \u00a325 for the day to help engineer tracks together,\u201d Fenton recalls. \u201cNot only did I make Colours there, but I also made the hip-hop album Kaos, which is funny, you know?<\/p>\n<p id=\"eef5733f-d52d-43aa-8462-7ce7338d4873\">\u201cThey both sounded massive and yet, it was all done in a bedroom studio; not all of the recording process, but the majority of it. Everything apart from recording some of the artists on there. We recorded live instruments at my house. The session musicians would come over and we&#8217;d record with saxophones and trumpets and flutes and everything in a bedroom with a very basic setup.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even when presented with the opportunity to step up to working in a world-renowned studio, Fenton found himself returning to the limited setup of his Watford studio.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe even went to the Hit Factory in New York,\u201d he says. \u201cAt the time it was probably, like 10 or 15 grand a day, to mix down tracks with LL Cool J, De La Soul, Redman. I preferred the mixdowns that I did in my bedroom in Watford to the ones we did there. I think that&#8217;s because I knew what I wanted it to sound like. If you hand it over to somebody, they give their interpretation of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check=\"\" id=\"57d15e99-62a6-43a2-b6c7-90751ccadb58\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\" style=\"max-width:1280px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:66.72%;\"> <picture data-new-v2-image=\"true\"><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/dfeLJR7CBUTXK2hf9tqnwX-1200-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/dfeLJR7CBUTXK2hf9tqnwX-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/dfeLJR7CBUTXK2hf9tqnwX-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/dfeLJR7CBUTXK2hf9tqnwX-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/dfeLJR7CBUTXK2hf9tqnwX-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/dfeLJR7CBUTXK2hf9tqnwX-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/dfeLJR7CBUTXK2hf9tqnwX.jpg\" alt=\"Adam F\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/dfeLJR7CBUTXK2hf9tqnwX-1200-80.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/dfeLJR7CBUTXK2hf9tqnwX-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/dfeLJR7CBUTXK2hf9tqnwX-970-80.jpg 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/dfeLJR7CBUTXK2hf9tqnwX-650-80.jpg 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/dfeLJR7CBUTXK2hf9tqnwX-480-80.jpg 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/dfeLJR7CBUTXK2hf9tqnwX-320-80.jpg 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/dfeLJR7CBUTXK2hf9tqnwX.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/dfeLJR7CBUTXK2hf9tqnwX.jpg\"\/>\n<\/picture><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"caption-text\">Recording in NYC <\/span><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: Adam F)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"9efa0c43-c225-4bd6-a810-2a30b2505bac\">\u201cI&#8217;ve realised that you don&#8217;t need the best studio in the world,\u201d he continues. \u201cYou don&#8217;t need all the latest plugins and everything else. I think that my best instrument is the mind and the concept and the vision for what you want to make.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Circles, and the singles that led up to it, were created against the backdrop of a fertile London drum &amp; bass scene built around a close knit community of DJs and club-goers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was going out to venues at the time like Speed, seeing Fabio and Bukem. Then Blue Note for Metalheadz, which was a game changer\u201d Fenton recalls. \u201cThat was a venue and period where all the artists would be there together, listening. So you&#8217;d stand around and there&#8217;d be Dillinga, Ed Rush &amp; Optical, Goldie, Grooverider \u2013 everyone would be in that small environment hearing tunes for the very first time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The experiences and environment of those clubs provided the influence for early Adam F tracks including Brand New Funk and Metropolis, the latter of which appeared on Colours.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMetropolis was inspired by standing in Blue Note. I just wanted to recreate that atmosphere,\u201d he tells us. \u201cI&#8217;m glad I didn&#8217;t DJ at the time though, because otherwise I wouldn&#8217;t have made Brand New Funk the way I did, or Metropolis with a minute string intro with nothing to mix in. I would have been conscious of that and then probably tried to do something different.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While the tracks might not have been made with DJs in mind, they found a warm reception with the artists behind the decks at those influential clubs, with a rewind from Metalheadz boss Goldie providing a particularly memorable moment of positive feedback.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI went back after making Metropolis,\u201d Fenton says. \u201cBecause Groove had been playing Circles and really supporting me, I handed him a dubplate at the side of the decks at Blue Note. He took it straight out and put Metropolis on. I just saw this big hand come over with loads of rings on it and just stop the record. That was like my stamp of approval, you know?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" id=\"elk-9febc92e-7d89-42bc-b8d9-5c23f6805f1d\" href=\"\" data-url=\"\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\"\/><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"re-recording-colours-3\">Re-Recording Colours<\/h2>\n<p id=\"f471f72d-b9f1-450e-a965-57766f3f19e8\">Despite its lauded status among DnB fans, the original Colours is surprisingly hard to listen to in 2025. It\u2019s not available on streaming platforms and hard to get hold of physically.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI realised that a lot of my early releases as Adam F were not available online,\u201d Fenton tells us, \u201cand it&#8217;d been a long time since the physical product was in people&#8217;s hands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re reading this wishing you hadn\u2019t lost, sold or donated your copy of the original album, you\u2019re not alone, Fenton has found himself in a similar boat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn&#8217;t have any copies of my own music,\u201d he says. \u201cYou tend to give everything away. Everybody always asks for a copy, and before you know it, it\u2019s 10 years down the line and you haven&#8217;t got a copy of any of your own music.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI went online and had to pay \u00a390 for my own album to get a copy of it. That just made me realise how good it was to have that physical copy. And I wanted that back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Getting fresh copies of Colours out into the public domain wasn\u2019t a simple case of returning to the original masters and pressing a few new records though. Rights issues around the original recordings also proved to be a factor in the process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted the rights back to my music,\u201d Fenton tells us. \u201cNowadays, with ever changing music industry, it&#8217;s great for artists to control their own writers, and have control of artistically, what they want to do with their music and how they want to present it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The solution to these problems arrives this month in the form of Colours Revisited, a reworking of the original record that goes beyond a simple remaster and sees Fenton \u2013 and a crew of collaborators including many of the original contributors \u2013 re-recording tracks from the album.<\/p>\n<p>Doing so has not necessarily been an easy process, in fact, Fenton describes the new LP as a painstaking labour of love.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"167b35ac-44fb-4dd2-8256-34ddda1b75fc\">\n<blockquote class=\"vanilla-quoteblock\">\n<p>\u201cWe went to recondition all of the instruments. They&#8217;d be phoning us up, saying, \u2018Where have you kept these, in the garden for 20 years? They&#8217;re covered in mould\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p id=\"d866da17-5e55-4759-83df-92c50b65ce0d\">\u201cThe first step to working on Colours Revisited was to look at what assets we had, which wasn&#8217;t very many,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt was a combination of finding bags and bags of floppy disks, zip discs, and then machines that would actually load them up \u2013 samplers, outboard equipment, the original instruments, you know, clavinet and Fender Rhodes, vocoders\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In many cases, although Fenton and his team had access to the original hardware, decades of wear and tear meant that significant work was needed to return the instruments to a usable condition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe basically went to recondition all of these instruments, which was a lot harder than I originally anticipated,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019d take it to the specialist to get it reconditioned, and they&#8217;d be phoning us up, saying, \u2018Where have you kept these? In the garden for 20 years? Because they&#8217;d be covered in mould\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then there was the process of reassembling the diverse lineup of collaborators that worked on the original. The late MC Conrad re-recorded his parts before he sadly passed away last year, while Fenton\u2019s wife Kirsty Hawkshaw \u2013 of Opus III \u2013 stepped in for Tracy Thorn\u2019s parts on The Tree Knows Everything. They were joined by musicians including jazz great Julian Joseph and a number of new collaborators.<\/p>\n<p>Fenton also had to grapple with the challenge of recreating his own parts, which wasn\u2019t always as straightforward as it might seem.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I listened to some of the takes [from the original album], where I\u2019d record stuff for an hour and a half, I was like, fuck, is that me playing?\u201d he tells us. \u201cI realized that, you know, people say you\u2019ve got to play piano every day to keep up. It&#8217;s like playing pool. If you don\u2019t keep it up, 10 years later, you go, \u2018I thought I used to be really good. Now I&#8217;m shit!\u2019 And that&#8217;s just what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" id=\"elk-9c292d12-0429-46f4-a215-82c0cc2ee0a7\" href=\"\" data-url=\"\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\"\/><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"moving-from-drum-bass-to-hip-hop-for-kaos-3\">Moving from drum &amp; bass to hip-hop for Kaos<\/h2>\n<p id=\"51f89c58-272b-40b7-b7a8-c6aeb22c6734\">Despite the success of Colours and the growing popularity of drum &amp; bass, Adam F made a surprising move for his second album by moving away from the genre in favour of the US hip-hop scene. Although the stylistic jump took some fans by surprise, as Fenton explains in the video below, it perhaps wasn\u2019t such a radical change of direction for the producer himself.<\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube-video youtube-facade\" data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"fn7_P8jY5js\">\n<div class=\"video-aspect-box\">\n<div class=\"watch-on-iframe-fn7_P8jY5js\" data-yt-video-token=\"fn7_P8jY5js\" title=\"Adam F on making Kaos and moving from DnB to hip-hop - YouTube\">\n<span class=\"youtube-video-title\">Adam F on making Kaos and moving from DnB to hip-hop &#8211; YouTube<\/span><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/fn7_P8jY5js\/maxresdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Adam F on making Kaos and moving from DnB to hip-hop - YouTube\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"play-button\" viewbox=\"0 0 234.67 165.33\"><path fill=\"red\" d=\"M229.763 25.817c-2.699-10.162-10.65-18.165-20.748-20.881C190.716 0 117.333 0 117.333 0S43.951 0 25.651 4.936C15.553 7.652 7.6 15.655 4.903 25.817 0 44.236 0 82.667 0 82.667s0 38.429 4.903 56.85C7.6 149.68 15.553 157.681 25.65 160.4c18.3 4.934 91.682 4.934 91.682 4.934s73.383 0 91.682-4.934c10.098-2.718 18.049-10.72 20.748-20.882 4.904-18.421 4.904-56.85 4.904-56.85s0-38.431-4.904-56.85\"\/><path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"m93.333 117.559 61.333-34.89-61.333-34.894z\"\/><\/svg><br \/>\n<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"watch-on-youtube-fn7_P8jY5js\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/fn7_P8jY5js\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/fn7_P8jY5js\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\">Watch On <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"youtube-logo\" viewbox=\"0 0 507.9 113.39\"><g fill=\"#fff\"><path d=\"M64.792 80.99V32.396l42.082 24.297zm93.803-63.285a20.285 20.285 0 0 0-14.32-14.32C131.642 0 80.99 0 80.99 0S30.337 0 17.705 3.385a20.286 20.286 0 0 0-14.32 14.32C0 30.338 0 56.693 0 56.693S0 83.049 3.385 95.68A20.285 20.285 0 0 0 17.705 110c12.632 3.386 63.285 3.386 63.285 3.386s50.652 0 63.285-3.386a20.284 20.284 0 0 0 14.32-14.32c3.385-12.632 3.385-38.988 3.385-38.988s0-26.355-3.385-38.988m94.473 74.326c.887-2.314 1.332-6.098 1.332-11.35V58.556c0-5.097-.445-8.822-1.332-11.178-.888-2.355-2.452-3.533-4.69-3.533-2.163 0-3.69 1.178-4.577 3.533-.888 2.356-1.332 6.081-1.332 11.178V80.68c0 5.25.424 9.035 1.275 11.35.848 2.318 2.392 3.475 4.633 3.475 2.239 0 3.803-1.157 4.691-3.475zm-17.953 11.122c-3.207-2.16-5.486-5.52-6.835-10.079-1.352-4.554-2.027-10.617-2.027-18.185v-10.31c0-7.644.771-13.784 2.316-18.417 1.544-4.633 3.956-8.011 7.24-10.135 3.282-2.123 7.587-3.186 12.916-3.186 5.251 0 9.459 1.082 12.626 3.243 3.165 2.162 5.482 5.542 6.95 10.136 1.466 4.595 2.2 10.715 2.2 18.36v10.31c0 7.567-.714 13.65-2.142 18.243-1.43 4.595-3.747 7.955-6.951 10.077-3.205 2.124-7.548 3.186-13.03 3.186-5.64 0-10.06-1.082-13.263-3.243m248.053-57.981c-.81 1.005-1.352 2.646-1.621 4.923-.272 2.278-.404 5.734-.404 10.367v5.097h11.697V60.46c0-4.555-.155-8.011-.463-10.367-.309-2.355-.868-4.014-1.678-4.98-.812-.966-2.067-1.449-3.766-1.449-1.7 0-2.954.503-3.765 1.506zm-2.025 29.886v3.591c0 4.557.132 7.974.404 10.251.269 2.279.828 3.94 1.68 4.982.849 1.041 2.16 1.564 3.938 1.564 2.392 0 4.035-.927 4.923-2.781.887-1.853 1.37-4.942 1.447-9.268l13.785.812c.077.62.116 1.469.116 2.548 0 6.565-1.795 11.47-5.387 14.712-3.589 3.242-8.669 4.865-15.232 4.865-7.876 0-13.398-2.47-16.564-7.414-3.168-4.94-4.75-12.586-4.75-22.935V63.589c0-10.657 1.641-18.436 4.924-23.342 3.281-4.903 8.9-7.355 16.854-7.355 5.482 0 9.691 1.004 12.626 3.012 2.933 2.01 5 5.137 6.197 9.383 1.197 4.247 1.796 10.117 1.796 17.607v12.163h-26.757m-284.953-1.33-18.187-65.68h15.869l6.37 29.77c1.623 7.339 2.82 13.594 3.591 18.766h.464c.54-3.706 1.738-9.922 3.591-18.65l6.603-29.886h15.869l-18.417 65.68v31.51h-15.754v-31.51M322.115 34.23v71.007h-12.511l-1.39-8.688h-.347c-3.399 6.564-8.496 9.845-15.291 9.845-4.71 0-8.185-1.543-10.425-4.633-2.24-3.087-3.359-7.915-3.359-14.48V34.23h15.985v52.126c0 3.168.348 5.426 1.043 6.776.695 1.353 1.853 2.027 3.475 2.027 1.39 0 2.722-.423 3.996-1.275 1.274-.849 2.22-1.928 2.838-3.241V34.229h15.986m81.995.001v71.007h-12.511l-1.391-8.688h-.345c-3.402 6.564-8.498 9.845-15.292 9.845-4.711 0-8.186-1.543-10.426-4.633-2.24-3.087-3.358-7.915-3.358-14.48V34.23h15.985v52.126c0 3.168.347 5.426 1.041 6.776.696 1.353 1.855 2.027 3.476 2.027 1.391 0 2.723-.423 3.996-1.275 1.275-.849 2.22-1.928 2.839-3.241V34.229h15.985\"\/><path d=\"M365.552 20.908h-15.87v84.329h-15.637v-84.33h-15.869V8.05h47.376v12.858m76.811 53.636c0 5.174-.215 9.229-.639 12.162-.424 2.937-1.139 5.021-2.143 6.255-1.004 1.236-2.357 1.854-4.053 1.854a7.404 7.404 0 0 1-3.65-.927c-1.12-.618-2.026-1.544-2.722-2.78V50.796c.54-1.93 1.467-3.513 2.78-4.749 1.313-1.234 2.74-1.853 4.285-1.853 1.623 0 2.876.637 3.766 1.91.886 1.275 1.505 3.418 1.853 6.43.348 3.011.523 7.297.523 12.857zm14.652-28.964c-.967-4.478-2.531-7.721-4.692-9.73-2.163-2.007-5.136-3.011-8.919-3.011-2.935 0-5.676.83-8.224 2.49a16.926 16.926 0 0 0-5.908 6.545h-.117l.001-37.416h-15.405v100.777h13.204l1.622-6.717h.347c1.235 2.393 3.088 4.285 5.56 5.675 2.47 1.39 5.213 2.085 8.225 2.085 5.404 0 9.382-2.491 11.931-7.471 2.548-4.982 3.823-12.76 3.823-23.341V64.23c0-7.953-.484-14.17-1.448-18.65\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<hr id=\"290292ff-eac7-45b5-baff-711250597adc\"\/>\n<p id=\"57823356-7e32-4638-95a4-7ddb705474be\"><strong\/><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/linktr.ee\/181recordings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-url=\"https:\/\/linktr.ee\/181recordings\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\"><strong>Adam F\u2019s Colours Revisited is out now<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong\/><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/worldheartbeatstudios.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-url=\"https:\/\/worldheartbeatstudios.co.uk\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\"><strong>Find out more about World Heart Beat Studios<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.musicradar.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Adam F on how he made \u201890s classic Colours\u2026 and why he\u2019s re-recording it for 2025 &#8211; In the studio &#8211; YouTube Watch On RECORDING WEEK 2025: Released in 1997, Colours, the debut album from Adam Fenton \u2013 aka Adam F \u2013 is an undisputed classic of drum &amp; bass. Combining chopped breaks and synth [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2092626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2092625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/You-dont-need-all-the-latest-plugins-and-everything-else.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2092625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2092625"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2092625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2092627,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2092625\/revisions\/2092627"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2092626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2092625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2092625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2092625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}