Album Review: The Chemical Brothers 'Born In The Echoes'

Fresh from their stellar Glastonbury performance, the godfathers and pioneers of trippy acid-soaked electronica, Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, aka The Chemical Brothers, return to the fore with their long awaited follow-up to 2010’s ‘Further’ with their new album ‘Born In The Echoes’.
Once again displaying their heralded and eclectic brand of genre spanning distorted electronic floor-fillers, The Chemical Brothers successfully strike the perfect balance between experimental avantgarde-influenced electronica and accessible radio-friendly dance stompers, revealing an impressive roster of guest vocalists.
Lead singles ‘Under Neon Lights’ featuring St. Vincent on guest vocals channels the late night enchantment of Donna Summer, whilst ‘Go’ (accompanied by a typically unique and bizarrely futuristic performance art focused video directed by longtime collaborator Michel Gondry) is destined to be the track that has you flailing your arms in a rapturous fashion at a festival in the near future.

As the 11-track album approaches mid-way, robotic freak-out ‘I’ll See You There’ stuns you into a whirling frenzy with the punchy percussion, and the next few tracks follow suit with the title track ‘Born In The Echoes’ featuring Welsh psychedelic songstress Cate Le Bon’s monotone and calming vocals
which overlap a droning bassline and pummelling repetitive drumbeat, entering the most cultish vibes of the dance domain.
‘Born In The Echoes’ is out now.
By Thomas Curtis-Horsfall