“Even though hip hop has been my primary influence, by the time I got round to making music, somehow I didn’t feel like I could do solely that and make the music I wanted to make.” So speaks Nathaniel Pearn, Mr Natural Self, stretching out on his roof terrace that overlooks a scruffy triangle of Brighton back gardens. He’s explaining the genesis of his new album, Let Peace Be The Ruler. Hip hop was always the bedrock of the sound, and he’s working in the tradition of the instrumental pioneers – Krush, Shadow and Cam – who have always been an inspiration. But Natural Self’s music is unorthodox, a take on the hip hop ethic that largely eschews samples and draws on hip hop’s ancestry – black music from across the globe – for its rhythmic ideas.

“The percussive influence in my work hasn't changed much from the start,” says Nathaniel. “Samba has always been a great influence, as well as Afro-Cuban stuff. it's just the way i execute it now that has got better!” He’s explaining the move away from sample-based production to a looser, more organic sound that gives him the scope to include live instrumentation. He started off with a set of rules by which he made his music: an emphasis on complex drum and percussion loops to propel the track forward; no digital effects so that it sounded as raw as possible; and exclusively samples in his work – no synths or modules, just dusty breaks and horns lifted from old jazz LPs.

But as he became more confident that the groove he was carving was one that allowed him to express what he wanted, he loosened the strictures and started bringing in talented musicians to work on the album: “I get more flexibility and more subtlety now from bringing in the live elements,” he explains, “and because I’m doing an album you can broaden the canvas, express these more subtle ideas.” His early 7”s explored a fast club sound and working under the moniker Keno 1 he has put out twisted, futuristic hip hop on the Museum Records imprint. but the context of an album allows him to dig deeper. Now the funk and heavy Latin rhythms are laced with haunting live vocals and tripped out jazz, influenced by Alice Coltrane, Eddie Gale and Pharoah Sanders.

He has, in fact, used live guitar, Latin percussion (congas and timbales), flute and vocals – notably soul sensation Alice Russell – on the album. But he’s directed and arranged them as he saw fit: “It's been really interesting going from a solo, individual thing to recording with other people. I’ve been trying to get the balance right between telling them what to do and having a musical relationship, a collaboration. For the first time I’ve conveyed my ideas and let them run with it a little, because obviously you don't want to impose too much.”

Natural Self has recorded, chopped, layered and arranged all of these contributions – whether they be from the furthest reaches of his record collection or from musicians he’s called into his home studio – and produced something original.  The resulting album, out in September on Breakin’ Bread, has a distinctive sound that incorporates the punch of good hip hop beats as well as a surprisingly delicate layer of instrumentation, both intricate and heavy at the same time, all laid down with a clarity and attention to detail that really impresses the ear.

It’s a step in a sophisticated direction and is the first proper album that Breakin’ Bread have put out. But Pearn isn’t surprised: “It's a new thing for all of us. They've reached a point where they're trying to expand, out of the first 7”s, which were really kind of cut-up club gear. They started putting out hip hop 12”s, and now I think they've broadened and want to try something new. It makes a lot of sense for all of us,” he muses. The basis, however remains a mutual respect for what the other does. “I guess we just really like each other's vibe. Hip hop and funk are mainly what I play when I DJ, exactly the Breakin’ Bread style, and are arguably the two strongest influences in the Natural Self stuff.”

This emphasis is strong on his mix CD entitled The Ritual. But the skill of this, as on his album, is that it effortlessly moves between genres, a collision of disparate sources into a coherent sound. He traces links across continents and from old to new. “That's what fascinates me so much, that there's a connection between these things even though they might be made over a span of thousands of miles, or decades. I never know if other people hear that connection... but I’m trying make them hear it.” It’s a safe bet that anyone listening to Let Peace Be The Ruler will.