We talk about plenty of metal here at Nine Circles, but we also enjoy music from other genres. “Rainbows in the Dark” is our outlet to explore those other types of sounds and share them with you.

—

I’ve been meaning to write something about the Chemical Brothers and their newest album, Born in the Echoes, for a couple of weeks now. Alas, other people beat me to the punch in signing up for these Rainbows in the Dark posts — apparently not-metal’s pretty fun to write about too, guys! — and now I’m a bit late. But regardless, the album is an excellent listen — and following the success of 2010’s Further, it gets the duo onto the kind of hot streak they haven’t seen since the 1990s. 

The Chemical Brothers have always been at their best when they’re setting the pace of electronic dance music (Surrender), rather than following it (Come With Us); when they’re making their own trends (Further) rather than hopping onboard other people’s (We Are The Night). I know, not a terribly profound statement, but given the gaps in quality in the duo’s back catalogue, it’s an especially applicable one here.

Thankfully, Born in the Echoes falls pretty safely into the former categories. It nods to the immersive, rave-oriented nature of contemporary EDM while retaining the unabashed catchiness of their best material — the stuff that, for a time in the mid-’90s, had people thinking that big beat and electronica were the future of popular music.

There are more than enough numbers that stand up on their own (“Just Bang,” “Reflexion”), but also quite a few inspired guest spots throughout. When St. Vincent mastermind Annie Clark lends her vocals to “Under Neon Lights,” for example, it kicks the song into trippy overdrive. And can we get a show of hands for anyone who saw a Beck collaboration coming from the Chemical Brothers? Well, it happened on the closer, “Wide Open,” which ends up being one of the album’s best tracks.

But naturally, people are going to gravitate toward lead single, “Go” — and with good reason. It’s easily the catchiest thing here, and marks another successful collaboration with rapper Q-Tip. (The first, of course, being Push the Button opener and Budweiser anthem, “Galvanize”) The song covers every base you could ask it to, offering a steady, yet unobtrusive rhythm (no four-to-the-floor here, thank you very much), some terrific pop-rap verses, and an absolutely infectious refrain. You hear a song like this and almost start to wonder why these guys haven’t done an entire album together.

I could cover more ground here, but I’ll just let the album do the talking. Check it out:

[spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/3XUVUh6hisN43r2eZAOJRD]

Keep it heavy,
Dan