The Chemical Brothers
We Are The Night

THE REVIEW

I wonder if this album has already been released... who knows, and even if it has, who cares about buying it before it costs at least 9.99 euros. So, with my nice promo version just downloaded from eMule, I prepare myself—after several listens (ahahehe)—to give a re-welcome to this fun electronic duo that, on one hand, now leans towards the prevailing cheesiness of everything that is "dance" (in the broad sense) today, while on the other hand, it reveals a (commendable) colossal trick, since the path taken by the two is essentially one of the most shameless revival.

One thing is certain, Debaser people, and I believe I am as objective as possible in stating it: the misstep made with the boring, verbose, unnecessarily repetitive, and ultimately useless "Push The Button" remains just a bad memory in front of this new work that is much more compact and varied than its predecessor. A masterpiece then? Not at all! These are (once again) not the Chemical Brothers that a few knew as the last frontier of the underground. No acid house, no powerful rhythms borrowed from rock, drum'n'bass, the most ruthless techno, all elements that characterized the early cries of the Chemicals up to the (elitist) masterpiece "Dig Your Own Hole". And so, already with Surrender, they began to borrow from here and there (Got Glint? it's old school house while an Out of Control the Underworld would have done ten times better) trying to deviate from the formula that made them, if not unique, rare, here the main reference point (but not the only one) from which the Chemicals borrow a little something is the eighties electro-pop. Come on, isn't "Das spiegel" borrowed from any New Order piece (furthermore on the duo's official website Ed (or was it Tom?) praises the New Order as the best band in history). The same "eighties" feeling for the very successful "A modern midnight conversation" (which retrieves some of the oriental sounds typical of the duo), which is noticeable in the bass line and in the development somewhat reminiscent of Depeche Mode.

Then there's the absurd number "Battle Scars", which almost sounds like a (cheesy) mix of Talking Heads and Joy Division (in Mason's deep voice). In short, the principle of imitation has never been used so much by the duo, despite the results being anything but poor, quite the opposite. The funny thing is that they "self-cite" in the title track, as it opens with a synth sample already present in their "The Sunshine Underground". Remarkable title track in any case, but merging into a really annoying chorus. But enough about the positives, because by now people (those who survived) will believe they are facing the greatest comeback in history, based on how I talked about the album. So let's start with the unforgivable flaws: "all rights reversed" with those Klaxons jokers is a flaw in itself. And here I truly wonder what the difference is between that crap and any crap from Blue. Better not to think about it. The second flaw is the length of certain tracks (cutting some bits from the title track, no?) which peaks in the self-referential "Burst Generator". Isolated cases anyway. What is worse, however, are the very evident cuts (and I haven't heard the original!) present in "Saturate", which even so is quite energetic, though I always wonder if it will still hold up well in five years as an imperishable "Hey Boy Hey Girl". "Saturate" is, for the record, one of the few "modern" tracks outside the revival that swallows the entire album, along with the "salmon dance", a divertissement (or however the hell you spell it) hip hop that is still better than the pretentious and political "Left Right" from "Push The Button", and that "Do It Again" which is currently all over MTV and really does not represent the spirit of the album.

And here I would like to end by firing some big shots: "Do it Again" may also be a first-rate sellout, but it is probably one of the most trippy pieces produced by Our guys since "Come With Us". Essential and effective, like all simple things. Finally, the closing note goes to "Pills won't help you Now" with Midlake, one of the most beautiful songs written and played by the duo since their debut. Midlake's voice is capable of moving me to tears, and who cares if that too is a Revival of some varied New Order tribute or, worse yet, of Moby imitating New Order. As long as the Chemical Brothers produce a masterpiece to place at the end of each of their albums, there will still be hope.

In conclusion: give it a listen (without paying too much attention to "All rights reversed" yeah).