He's already won a Mobo award for his first album, Brand New Second Hand, and a Mercury nomination and gold certification for its follow-up, Run Come Save Me.

Now, urban rapper Roots Manuva looks set for even greater things with his critically-acclaimed fourth offering, Awfully Deep.

And deep would be the right word to describe this album. Roots Manuva, aka Rodney Smith, refers throughout it to the battle to do the right thing in the face of temptation.

"It's my fascination with deeper, darker sonic resonance and sentiments," he says. "The internal/external struggle. Dark shapes and sonic pictures."

"Making grooves and little ditties on my laptop, I've often had arguments with my other half, who always complains, 'Can't you do something happier? Can't you do something more light?'. I don't mind but it's getting me down! So it stemmed from that. I'm just an awfully deep kind of guy."

Smith has moved on with his new record. "It's much less self-concious," he says. "There's no urgency for a club or radio tune. It's a sonic expanse which purposely shuts out outside influences. It's not just the lyrics which speak. It's the tone and mood of the groove which speak as well."

Although he is happy working in a studio, Smith confesses that performing live, MCing, isn't really his thing. "I find it daunting," he says.

"I can't gauge how well or badly I'm doing until I listen to the recordings. The sound I have in my head is never the sound I'm performing on stage. I like the recording process better.

"But being out there and meeting people who like your music, that part of it makes up for the fact I'm not comfortable as a performer. It's more than part of the job. In a strange way, now I'm quite addicted to it and if I didn't do it for a long period of time, I'd probably get unhappy."

Starts 8pm, Sold out, Tel 01273 673311