inthemix | Music News | The Chemical Brothers

Fresh from a play date with their kids in the sandpit, the Chemical Brothers are back with their latest adventure in electronic wonderland. The all familiar bold face logo on the album cover is a brand that carries with it expectations. Expectations that, while being partly met with some strong singles, have failed to deliver a truly inspiring album in their last few outings for this reviewer. None the less it’s a brand that still elicits excitement as to the latest creative direction of the duo of Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands.

Whilst famously coming to prominence during the height of the mid to late 90s big beat era with landmark albums Exit Planet Dust and Dig Your Own Hole, it was perhaps 1999’s Surrender that separated them from their peers. It demonstrated the Chemical Brothers ability to reflect updated influences in a sound that was still uniquely their own. A constant across all their albums has been their collaborations with both emerging and well established vocalists. These have ranged from Q-Tip and Beth Orton through to Noel Gallagher, Hope Sandoval and more. We Are The Night steers clear of any bonafide superstars and instead sees the duo working with the likes of Willy Mason, The Klaxons, Ali Love, Fatlip and Midlake.

Following the brief one minute glitchy opening of No Path to Follow, the album kicks off properly with title track We Are The Night. As far as first impressions go it’s classic Chemical Brothers reminiscent of earlier hits like Surrender’s Out of Control. It’s six and a half minutes of crescendoing blips and bleeps in a style that is unmistakenbly their own. So far so good…

The Klaxons jump on board for All Rights Reversed. The charm to the song lies in the seeming steadiness of the vocals whilst the pounding beats and synth lines get progressively chaotic. Das Spiegal seees them providing their take on minimal with the trademark Chemical Brothers feel for momentum and movement with quirky bleeps and squelches for added warmth. Do It Again is an obvious first single, initially the simplest sounding but with a sound that is big in every way, complete with it’s booming repeated lyric over a fairly glitchy beat. Meanwhile The Salmon Dance with Fatlip sounds like The Chem’s trying to be Lemon Jelly writing a childrens song.

There are a few subtle nods to their earlier material, for example the sample from soul duo Barabara & Ernie’s Listen to Your Heart in A Modern Midnight Conversation bears an uncanny resemblance to earlier Chem collaborations with Beth Orton. This is by no means a criticism, but reminiscent of the feeling throughout the album that the lads had some fun putting this one together. Speaking of Orton, Midlake’s highlight collaboration The Pills Won’t Help You Now feels very much an update on the former stellar previous effort from the Dig Your Own Hole album Where Do I Begin. With an etheral voice similar to Thom Yorke at his best, the track moves from soft and fragile to an upbeat closing triumphant finale.

It was around the time of early Chemical Brothers tracks such as Leave Home and Alive Alone that this reviewer was starting to take an appreciation to dance music and see it as more than just ‘doof’. It’s this crossover charm that has won them a legion of fans over their five previous albums. At a time when university PhD students are claiming that dance music is just a phase that most get over, one might wonder what happens to such seminal dance acts like Chemical Brothers once they grow up. The answer is, that after a few attempts of seemingly trying a bit too hard, it all becomes fun again and they get back to their near best in a long while. If it’s not obvious by now, We Are The Night is a welcome return to form for The Chemical Brothers. Their best album since Dig Your Own Hole!