D/R/U/G/S - Love / Lust

We all know artists have always looked to the past for inspiration, and that very, very few can claim to have blazed a trail through unchartered territory. The caveat to this, however, was at least an effort to give it a new twist, combine things in new ways, or stamp a bit of your personality all over it. However, it increasingly seems that recidivism in the world of music involves directly stealing from the past, a sort of digital cut and paste, in the knowledge that the majority of fans may well be too young to know or care what’s being ripped off.

Now, I’m not accusing D/R/U/G/S of plagiarism, or being unoriginal. Far from it. But listen to just 30 seconds of ‘Love/Lust’ and it has a distinctly familiar feel, like a sonic comfort blanket. Coming across like a more chilled out Orbital, or the sort of stuff James Lavelle was putting out on Mo’ Wax around 1997, it’s a throwback to the euphoric trance music that used to be so popular in the 1990’s. The ingredients are all there: the incessant beat which never changes, a simple synth line repeated and built upon, a building crescendo of samples over the top, and a snippet of undecipherable lyrics repeated ad infinitum towards the end. You may recall that this was the formula used so successfully on Moby’s seminal album, ‘Play’.

Which is not to say that it’s not good. It is. Put aside concerns about where Callum and George are getting their inspiration from, it’s a very enjoyable listen as a pre-party or comedown soundtrack, and beach bar owners will no doubt be all over this for summer 2011. It could even have been written with Café del Mar in mind, so perfectly in tune is it with the whole Balearic chill-out vibe and watching the sun come up after a hard night on the dance floor. If that’s the extent of their ambition, then they’ve succeeded – but I was hoping for something a little more original and interesting.