Given the combined amount of time they’ve both spent mining dub and reggae music across the decades, it’s perhaps surprising that it took this long for On-U Sound boss Adrian Sherwood and Studio One veteran Horace Andy to make a record together. Midnight Rocker is Andy’s 41st studio album and easily his best since 1983’s Dance Hall Style. His unmistakable quiver leads a set of roots classics and covers (while “Safe From Harm” was a Massive Attack tune originally not sung by Andy, he should make his longterm collaborators rethink their decision here) over a pulsating backdrop from Sherwood that perfectly balances the digital and organic. For real bass-heads, Sherwood cranks the knobs even further on the accompanying dub version, Midnight Scorchers.

Reggae veteran teams up with Adrian Sherwood for a late period comeback that kinda kills it. Roots without being fully religious, not shy of Massive Attack past (they even cover “Safe From Harm,” which he didn’t originally sing), not obliged to be post-anything. I think this is just a reggae album.