Since redefining the electronica movement with their 1994 debut EP 14th Century Sky, pretend siblings Chemical Tom and Chemical Ed (then working under the moniker the Dust Brothers) have notched up an impressive nine million album sales, three Grammys and countless hit singles via five full length studio albums and endless arena sized tours.
After a short delay due to problems with the artwork, their sixth album We Are the Night arrives better late than never on 2nd July. It follows on from 2005’s mixed bag Push the Button, which featured the chart hit ‘Galvanize’.
According to the duo themselves, it’s “the Chemical Brothers finest record yet, twelve tracks of psychedelic warehouse party acid music.” Well, they would say that wouldn’t they?
They say:
The Observer: “Probably the most exquisitely integrated single listening experience the Chemical Brothers have yet come up with.”
We say:
As grand as the Dig Your Own Hole days were, it would have been career suicide for the Chems to simply rinse and repeat. They needed to immerse themselves in new sounds, new colours and keep this electronic train moving forward. And while they struggled to do so on Push the Button, We Are the Night sees them pulling it off with relative ease and panache.
Featuring vocal contributions from Fatlip (formerly of the Pharcyde), Klaxons and Willy Mason, amongst others, the album sounds fresh and more contemplative without losing sight of the Chems’ edgier dance roots, none more so than on the psychedelic space rock of ‘Burst Generator’ and the truly wonderful ‘Saturate’.
There’s also something pretty sinister about the album. At times it sounds like the entire human race has been wiped out by robots, with cuts such as the electro zapping title track and future single ‘All Rights Reversed’ bringing to mind a Cylon rave.
Fortunately an inspired female vocal on ‘A Modern Midnight Conversation’ provides a flicker of humanity, the angelic vocals rising above the Daft Punk esque metallic electro and cowbell. It’s a beautiful moment which serves to remind us that behind the machinery there are two beating hearts.
Bold, sophisticated and incorporating all kinds of contemporary music, this is how every dance act should sound in the year 2007. No doubt Glastonbury, in all its muddy glory, will agree.
Like this? Try these:
The Chemical Brothers – Singles 93-03
Daft Punk – Homework
Klaxons – Myths of the Near Future
RELEASED
2nd July ‘06
LABEL
Virgin
POSTED...
Sat 23 Jun 2007 at 11:03am
