Further

The Chemical Brothers remembers its past experience

The British electronic duo The Chemical Brothers – Edmund John Simons and Tom Owen Rowlands – hardly needs being presented. One does not necessarily need to be the genre’s fan – such hits as Hey Boy Hey Girl and Galvanize can be heard at parties, in clubs and on radio even today. Masters of styles mixtures The Chemical Brothers has surprised from the very beginning with its extraordinary sounding in which, however, a distinct tune was always present, as well as there was often an interesting story in the lyrics. DJs have worked a lot with guest vocalists and rappers remixing well-known compositions and writing original music. Those were mostly contagious club track, soft songs with a hip hop flavor or a perfect accompaniment for break dancing. In the mid-late 1990s the guys released a series of singles Electronic Battle Weapon meant for club DJs’ records. This year The Chemical Brothers seems to decide to remember that experience and releases the record Further signing its returning to the electronic synthesizer music from which the duo’s success takes its start.

Further is the first album without guest stars on vocals

The Chemical Brothers’ seventh album is the first in the duo’s history to be recorded without any guest stars on vocals. The vocal parts on Further are performed by Tom Rowlands himself; it is only on the opener Snow when the voice of Stephanie Dosen can be heard. The record comprises 8 tracks all together lasting more than 50 minutes. There are no pauses between the compositions, each flows gradually into the other, so as to be united in a whole long track. Everything starts with computer tones on Snow, a slow psychedelic composition with a soft memorable tune. The longest song on the record, Escape Velocity, lasting almost 12 minutes, takes the listener out of the hypnotized state of mind making one move with the contagious house beat and get immersed in the atmosphere of freedom and estrangement. Tomas’ dreamy vocals sound on Another World together with space audio effects whereas on a mid-tempo number Dissolve his voice first sings with the accompaniment of a catchy sample and then turns into a robot’s voice – it is the beginning of the following song Horse Power. It is definitely one of the album’s highlights and a classic The Chemical Brothers’ track: acid house as it should be. Such compositions as K+D+B with a very contagious beat and interesting samples and Wonders Of The Deep closing the album with major guitar chords also deserve praise.

The leaders of the electronic genre representatives

Those The Chemical Brothers’ fans who have seen its live performances know well that videos shot for the compositions are always played on the video wall. The new album is not an exception in this respect. Short movies have been shot especially for Further, too, and their authors Adam Smith and Marcus Lyall are long-term visual collaborators with The Chemical Brothers. On the whole this album is really a comeback to ‘the brothers’ early creative work because they have actively adopted synthesizers and classic DJ hooks creating marvelous dance harmonies. At the same time there are the duo’s trade mark analog noises on the album as well as distorted voices and a rich beat choice. Really less attention is paid to the vocal parts – they are either absent or simply underline the melody completely processed by technical means. Thus The Chemical Brothers has once again found itself among the leaders of the electronic genre representatives and given those fond of it a splendid DJ set which is sure to become an inseparable part of any stylish party this summer.