The Chemical Brothers
Come With Us

THE REVIEW

Come with us.

It's the year 2002 and I didn’t really know the Chemical Brothers yet. One fine day, I turned on the TV to MTV and it was like a blessing from heaven. It was love at first sight between me and that dreamy video which is "Star Guitar". That same afternoon, I went to buy the CD (the first one I bought for myself, now that I think about it). I put it in the stereo in my room. And there I went. I let myself be carried away by them... by a music I still didn’t quite know well enough... tribal sounds, drums, bongos… then techno… also lion roars… a clean, truly refined sound. That's what can be said of "Come With Us". A work crafted down to the finest details.

After all, after releasing an album like "Surrender" which sold who knows how many thousands of copies, they certainly couldn’t make a poor impression with a half-baked work (something that unfortunately cannot be said of "Push The Button"). Well… in my opinion, up to this point the two artists had not yet fallen into a more dance sound (to dance?), "music for the masses" just to be clear. Songs like "It Began In Afrika" or "Galaxy Bounce" show that there was a decisive change from the sound of "Dig Your Own Hole" and "Exit Planet Dust" preferring a much more techno sound (as in "Hoops") but still enjoyable, and surely it made not a few old fans wrinkle their noses.

An album where every track is simply a gem if you are a fan of the genre. Nevertheless, it’s worth highlighting the songs "It Began In Afrika" with its "bizarre" beginning full of animal roar samples, then literally exploding with beats driven by (excuse the repetition) techno tones, or "The State We’re In" because, as we know, the brothers know how to make us both dance and dream. And so here, as if by appointment, a "calm" song if you can say so. The album continues with two other notable songs like "Pioneer Skies", truly an "anthem" in my opinion. One of those songs to listen to and be silent. And it is with this song that I want to close the review. Because after listening to all the songs, watching the videos of both "Star Guitar" and "The Test" with clear references to traveling, I think the message they wanted to send is clear. Travel. Join them and let yourself be carried away by the music that only they know how to create. In my opinion, there is very little time left for the release of a new work by the Chemical Brothers.

And it is works like these that keep me going, seeing the music releases of 2006, filled with works like Mondo Marcio or Finley. Or reading magazines that elevate Fabri Fibra to artist of the year. If these are also the premises for 2007, I pray to God for the fast release of the works of Smashing Pumpkins, Prodigy, and of course Chemical Brothers. I take this opportunity to wish you a happy New Year.