The Chemical Brothers, “Born in the Echoes”

Get ready to get down like it’s 1995 all over again.
Reviews
The Chemical Brothers, “Born in the Echoes”

Get ready to get down like it’s 1995 all over again.

Words: A.D. Amorosi

July 21, 2015

2015. The Chemical Brothers Born in the Echoes cover art (1428x)

The Chemical Brothers-2015-Born in the Echoes cover artThe Chemical Brothers
Born in the Echoes
ASTRALWERKS
7/10

Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons’ seething, big-beat brand of hard psychedelic acid-hop was so ahead of the game in the ’90s that it quickly shot the northern English duo into the dance music stratosphere. Born in the Echoes—the duo’s eighth full-length—is a refreshing dive back into The Chemical Brothers’ world after 2012’s Don’t Think, and is nearly as audacious as their 1995 debut, Exit Planet Dust. It helps that the men behind the saltiest pre-EDM club bangers are working here with fellow ’90s neo-futurists Q-Tip (doing his best motivational speaker impression on “Go”) and Beck (on the Manchester robo-rocking “Wide Open”). Beyond the guest voices (St. Vincent and Cate Le Bon stop by, too), it’s The Chemical Brothers’ dramatic post-rave experimentalism and thick layers of textured melody that make Born in the Echoes work as a greater whole. Get ready to get down like it’s 1995 all over again.