The Chemical Brothers - We Are The Night

For a while it seemed like The Chemical Brothers had become nothing more than half man, half squelching bog robot. Their ‘big tunes’ certainly were that, determined to dance you in to submission with bass lines that can only be described as ‘pumping’. But lo and behold! That’s not what ‘We Are The Night’ is about.

Waking from a dull, fuzzing mess, this monster - and there are big moments to it - is a measured affair. While at points this hinders - the title track’s build up is the same length as a whole 1950s rock ‘n’ roll classic - the scraping beat and quirky, looped vocal smashes about in a Four Tet-esque manner. Kieran Hebden is a pretty ace man to be. ‘Saturate’ also takes the lo-fi approach. It might sound a bit like the brothers formerly known as Dust warming up an old keyboard, but it’s still got an appealing fuzzy bass. It’s definitely better than Das Spiegel’s continuous tinny twang at any rate.

But all ye misguided fans of big dance and The Chemical Brothers usual sense of blasting ‘choons’ need not fear. For this is not just one for the sitting room. ‘Modern Midnight Conversation’ almost sounds a bit disco. If disco was a bit less fun. There are celebrity friends aplenty too. Willy Mason and those cheeky Klaxons boys pop up to give the duo back their usual wallop.

Yes, the subliminal cry of ‘dance fools, dance!’ might be missing, but that’s not a bad thing. Heck, it’s this kind of variation that makes it all the better.