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Ed and Tom, otherwise known as those two with the block rockin’ beats release album #7.
The Chemical Brothers have enjoyed a glorious career at the forefront of making
top dance music, with an army of admirers and some essential tunes. Now without
the celebrity guests and some interactive videos, comes ‘Further’.
Opening track, ‘Snow’ features a blipping beat and some sweet incandescent vocals gradually evolving
with the music. It’s a quirky track on its own but eventually elopes into the 12 minute epic, ‘Escape Velocity’. Whilst initially sounding like some kind of lift-off sequence for an immense
rocket ship, it eventually develops into a purringly pure electro sequence with
some serious rhythm. Some might say it borrows slightly from ‘Baba O’Reilly’ by the Who and they’d be right to draw the sound-alike comparison. It remains a fine tune, whatever
its influences.
A somewhat unexpected retro piano line leads into ‘Another World’ and there are lots of futuristic effects employed as Tom Rowlands’ little-boy-lost vocals echo in. The Chemical Brothers are indeed masters of
atmospheres and this does sound like delving into unfamiliar and wild
surroundings.
‘Dissolve’ further rewrites the rhythm rulebook with an addictive tune humming in and out
of its grand guitar-like surroundings. As the epic lines fade out with some
real rock effects, there’s a nice vocal employed which further cements the song as a great effort. It’s just a masterclass in how to take a sound, make a sequence and then do what
the hell you want to it, whilst maintaining its flow and there are few better
than the Chemicals at doing it.
Did you think you’d hear a horse sampled in this record? Well that’s exactly what happens on ‘Horse Power’, which I’m assuming is a tongue-in-cheek measure as the beast “neighs” along with the progressive electro power. It’s an interesting move and not one which really pays off on a bizarrely literal
track.
Second single, ‘Swoon’ sounds ambiguous initially but eventually builds into an outrageous haunting
beat which does well to both build a great, vibrant mood and also to engineer
itself into a catchy song. It perhaps doesn’t have all the key elements of a dancefloor smash that the likes of ‘Push the Button’ did, but it’s a strong effort.
The Chemicals go for the Arcade Fire-esque atmosphere track and ‘K+D+B’ does that, as well as infusing some of the alternative soul of the likes of
Belle & Sebastian. Finally, ‘Wonders of the Deep’ builds a gargling underwater paradise on record before exploding into euphoric
blasts in a strong end.
Released - 14/6/10
Label - Freestyle Dust
7th studio album
- Snow
- Escape Velocity
- Another World
- Dissolve
- Swoon
- Wonders of the Deep
- Horse Power
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8
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Whilst they may not seem so set on creating essential tunes, their art deco work
here actually makes for an enjoyable record with some very nice songs that
would go well in any collection.
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The eccentrically talented Swedish pop icon releases the first of three,
apparently.
Of course it has been over 5 years since we last heard from her, though many
will remember her electro collaborations with Kleerup. This record, I can
assure you, follows down that windy digital path.
Opening track, ‘Don’t Fucking Tell Me What to Do’ is somewhat of a social commentary on all the things that are supposed to kill
you and features a harsh electro backing alongside Robyn’s recital. It’s a gritty, futuristic and quite unexpected opening, which is reasonably fine,
musically.
2nd track, ‘Fembot’ may maintain that future vibe but it’s essentially quite annoying. Namechecking various computer parts, the song just
never really goes anywhere.
Things improve with the opening single, ‘Dancing on My Own’. Produced by Patrick Berger (we’re hoping it’s the former Czech footballer as Wiki suggests), it’s similar in style to ‘With Every Heartbeat’ in its distorted electro backing and reminds of early 80s synth pop. ‘Cry When You Get Older’ has more of a discreet beat with a whole host of pop tricks employed. It has a
commercial feel, decent lyrics and an edgy, catchy digital vibe.
The vibes get somewhat more reggae in the music’s flavour as ‘Dance Hall Queen’ is delivered in the rasta style of Bob Marley. Robyn actually does a fair job in
imitating the technique and this isn’t as bad as it could have been, though an odd direction nonetheless.
Röyksopp lend a hand again with the even edgier electro assault of ‘None of Dem’. Unsurprisingly Robyn has decided to include previous collaboration, the
excellent ‘The Girl and the Robot’ on the end, but this one is much more chilled than that. It again, has a reggae
feel, mixed with a modern clubbing theme and it’s catchy enough to stay in the psyche.
There’s also a nice acoustic version of ‘Hang with Me’ thrown in, which benefits from some excellent strings, but one should remember
this is the first of three records, so will feature things like this. Whatever
the reason it’s a very beautiful version and a real testament to both the production and Robyn’s likeable vocals.
Finally a traditional arrangement of folk number, ‘Jag vet en Dejlig Rosa’ is included, for reasons unknown, it must be said. It’s slow, sweet, but only really meaningful to anyone familiar with the language.
Released - 14/6/10
Label - Konichiwa
5th solo studio album
- Dancing on My Own
- Cry When You Get Older
- Dance Hall Queen
- Hang with Me
- ‘Fembot’
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7.5
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