Even on their tenth album full of warm, banging big beat psychedelia, the brothers refuse to descend from the high plateau.
The days of block rockin’ beats are long gone: The Chemical Brothers pushed the mainstream button for the last time in 2005: “Galvanize” was either the last big beat hit or the first of the very short-lived post-big beat genre. Erol Alkan and Ed Banger from Paris quickly took over the interface between rock and electronica. And yet: largely unheard by the masses – with the exception of the UK, where LPs by Tom Rowland and Ed Simons always chart at the top – the two have never left a high level.
Their tenth studio album (ignoring the “Hanna” soundtrack, which is not negligible in itself) is no exception. On the contrary: songs like the euphoric “Live Again” (feat. Halo Maud) are among the freshest things the brothers have ever recorded. You can continue hopping to the crazy stop-and-go bass line of “No Reason” after “Go” in future sets. Both of them also have fun in the colorful world they once created, are happy about the rich harvest and drift past the fowers that grow so incredibly high.
They relish their customs, honor 60s psychedelia, 80s breakbeat and 90s ethnotrance and demonstrate their own influence on heroes of the noughties like MGMT and Empire Of The Sun with “Skipping Like A Stone”, which is joined by regular guest Beck. The closing title track (also featuring Halo Maud) follows in the tradition of hangover-busting after-hours tunes like “Where Do I Belong” and “Asleep From Day.” We would like to thank Ed and Tom for not claiming this man-made paradise exclusively for themselves, but rather – committed to the community spirit of techno – allowing us to share in the feeling that gives it the title.