At a certain point in a band's career, fans cease to expect any significant growth from them. Why? Eventually, the general assumption the public makes is that the band in question has achieved all the goals it set for itself and/or overcome all the boundaries the band members felt compelled to push and are now at a loss for something else to do, so they coast. After fifteen years and six albums, it would be safe to assume that pop-house/electronica majordomos The Chemical Brothers have long since ventured past that point; they had a great run and developed a good following, but their last couple of albums (We Are The Night and Push The Button) were nothing special and found the band looking affectionately backward at past glories. It didn't necessarily make for the greatest listening; and fans could guess that the band was headed for a comfortable decline into oblivion.
Taking that history into consideration, it's perfect that The Chemical Brothers' new album is called Further because, this time out, (while still keeping an eye on where they've been), the band has started pushing their own limits again with surprisingly strong results.
Listeners will notice that the sounds of Further are different from any of the group's previous releases from the moment the droning sample that opens “Snow” parts to let singer Stephanie Dosen through the wall of sound. It's a very dramatic introduction, made all the more attention-grabbing for The Chemical Brothers because there isn't a single, solitary beat anywhere in the song; it is completely unique in the context of The Chemical Brothers' catalogue and, as soon as “Snow” gives way to “Escape Velocity,” that uniqueness proves itself to be the guiding force behind Further.
That isn't to say that the album is a total departure for The Chemical Brothers, just that they're playing the game differently here.
Primarily noticeable in the difference between Further and everything else The Chemical Brothers have ever done is the fact that these eight songs are surprisingly unadorned with any extra sounds of motifs. While DJs Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons had previously gone over the top every time through their records (always more guests, and the more samples, the better), the sampling done from other artists' records is kept to a comparative minimum; not only that, but the samples used are of unknown ownership (that is, EMI and Astralwerks didn't know who to pay for use of the samples, so a “Let us known if we owe you money” note in the album's liner notes) and that, combined with an increased presence of real-time instruments, makes Further feel less like a DJ record and more like a rock record.
As it progresses, Further continues to surprise listeners with different, decidedly rockist, instrumental ideas (parts of songs like “Swoon” and “Wonders Of The Deep” feature bits of original, real-time instrumentation) that throw some more distance between the record and the structures they started with but, rather than get worrisome or frustrating, the development through Further gets ever-more exciting to hear. Whether it was intentional or not, Chemical Brothers have started down a very different curve that suddenly opens a number of new avenues to the group. There's no telling which they'll choose (rock band? Electro-hybrid?), but it'll be interesting to watch where they go next.
Artist:
www.thechemicalbrothers.com/
www.myspace.com/thechemicalbrothers
Album:
Further is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .
