FEATURE:
The Chemical Brothers at Thirty
For That Beautiful Feeling: Their Finest Albums, The Artists They Have Influenced, and Their Greatest Tracks
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2023 is an important …
IN THIS PHOTO: Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons of The Chemical Brothers perform during Field Day, as part of the All Points East festival at Victoria Park on 20th August, 2022 in London/PHOTO CREDIT: Jim Dyson/Getty Images
time for The Chemical Brothers. Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons spoke with Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 6 Music on Thursday marking thirty years of their partnership. In fact, Rowlands and Simons first began DJ'ing and producing together over thirty years ago in the early-’90s under the name The Dust Brothers, releasing their first single, Song to The Siren, in 1992. By 1995, they were performing with the likes of Underworld and touring internationally - which is when they also changed their name to The Chemical Brothers, releasing their debut album, Exit Planet Dust, in July of that year. Their new album, For That Beautiful Feeling has been released to coincide with that big anniversary (just after). Earlier in the year, DJ Mag teased news of the as-then-untitled album and how it is a big year for Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons. I remember first hearing The Chemical Brothers when Exit Planet Dust arrived in 1995:
“The Chemical Brothers have confirmed that their new album will be released this autumn.
The duo announced the news in social media post (which you can see below) with a photo of a billboard in the desert. It follows the release of 'No Reason' — their first single since 'The Darkness That You Fear', two years ago. ‘No Reason’ landed digitally in March, and is due on vinyl this month. Another unreleased tune, 'All Of A Sudden', features on the B-side.
The as-yet-untitled full length record will be the tenth studio album from The Chemical Brothers, AKA Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons. The outing coincides with the pair's 30th anniversary as musical partners, first forming as the Dust Brothers around the turn of the 1990s after meeting at the University of Manchester.
Whilst that guise was short-lived, early work quickly found favour with luminaries like Andrew Weatherall and Justin Robertson, setting the stage of 1995's debut LP, 'Exit Planet Dust' — its title referencing their name change to The Chemical Brothers. In addition to the forthcoming album, the UK dance music veterans have also confirmed a six-date arena tour later this year, with shows in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow, among other major cities”.
PHOTO CRERDIT: White Rabbit
I want to do a bit of an anniversary feature. I am going to highlight five albums from the Chems that you need to get. I will put out a playlist at the end featuring some of their best tracks and deeper cuts. I also want to highlight some of the artists who have definitely been inspired by The Chemical Brothers. In addition to a new album, a book is coming next month. Rough Trade have more details:
“Paused in Cosmic Reflection is the definitive story of The Chemical Brothers. Told in the voices of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, with contributions from friends and collaborators, it is fully illustrated with 30 years of mind-bending visuals.
The Chemical Brothers are unquestionably one of the biggest electronic music acts in the world today. They emerged in the early 1990s in the afterglow of the Manchester acid house scene, an electronic music duo consisting of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons. By 1995 they had made the leap from the underground, and their now legendarily influential residency at the Heavenly Social, into the mainstream as chief innovators of the;big beat; genre, with the million-selling success of their debut, Exit Planet Dust. Their second album, Dig Your Own Hole went stratospheric in 1997 and they have since collectively, had half a dozen number one albums, headlined Glastonbury and Coachella and won six Grammys. They have collaborated with a host of internationally famous artists from Noel Gallagher to Beck, Q-Tip Beth Orton and Wayne Coyle.
Paused in Cosmic Reflection is a kaleidoscopic history of the band and the intoxicating world they have created, in their own words, with contributions from intimate friends and collaborators (aforementioned artists included) to Steve Dub, Adam Smith (the architect of their hallucinogenic live shows alongside Marcus Lyall), Kate Gibb and many other voices. The book is fully illustrated with photography and design work from the Chemical archives designed by Paul Kelly.
Authors Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons said: ‘Robin has been part of our extended family since 1994. When he came to us with the idea of Paused in Cosmic Reflection - a book that would join the dots between us and many of the people we've worked with over the years as well as tell the stories of clubs we've played, gigs, videos and live visuals - it made total sense. Through his relationship with designer Paul Kelly and with publishers White Rabbit, we've collectively made a book that brings you right inside the world of the Chemical Brothers - our world - for the first time ever.’”.
I want to now spotlight the five albums from The Chemical Brothers that are essential listening. The duo have just released their tenth studio album. Let’s hope that we hear a lot more from them for years to come! If you are new The Chemical Brothers or a committed fan, the albums below, I feel, contain some of their best work. I don’t think any of their ten albums can be described as anything other than excellent – making it a hard task narrowing things down!
Exit Planet Dust
Release Date: 26th June, 1995
Producers: Tom Rowlands/Ed Simons/Cheeky Paul
Labels: Junior Boy's Own/Freestyle Dust/Virgin/Astralwerks
Standout Tracks: In Dust We Trust/Song to the Siren/Life Is Sweet
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/product/the-chemical-brothers/exit-planet-dust
Review:
“The typical club dance floor in the early ‘90s was largely dominated by a simple and relentless bass thump, a few piano chords and some soulful vocals riffing on one trite sentiment or another. As the inevitable pop-crossover came into being, that predictable sound moved increasingly into the charts. It seemed as though electronic musicians who were pushing things forward with innovative approaches to getting butts out of seats were pushing deep underground, existing happily in the rave scene or moving on to less dance floor friendly subgenres.
But by the mid-‘90s, innovative electronic music began to enter the mainstream, whether through the release of a new wave of so-called trip hop paving the way for the big beat explosion by acts like the Crystal Method and the Prodigy later in the decade. On the other hand, artists like Massive Attack and Tricky pitched everything down to a dreamy, relaxed state while eschewing the stomping bassline in favor of lazy drum breaks and moody pads. In 1995, British producers Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons released their first album as the Chemical Brothers. Exit Planet Dust, bearing a title emblematic of leaving their former sound behind (as well as ditching the copycat Dust Brothers moniker they were threatened with legal action into changing), took a vastly different direction from the typical club-friendly house sound. Working as a catalyst for their crossover into the mainstream, this record doesn’t rely on overwrought soul samples, cheesy piano chords or predictable pop patterns. Instead, it tears down the uninspiring dance floor formula from that era and replaces the pop with a psychedelic and percussion-rich sample frenzy, making it one of the most unusual and catchiest dance music records of 1995.
The lead track “Leave Home” is the most iconic on the record. A looping bass note introduces the song under the hypnotic, echoing repetition of “The brothers gonna work it out.” A wah-wah guitar lick adds a layer of unexpected filthy funk to the rhythm, and from that point on the duo adds layers upon layers of slick breaks and synth patterns. What makes the record so compelling is the Chemical Brothers’ seemingly unrefined approach to shuffling loops, beats and warped sound effects as though there were no intended goal aside from keeping the party-goer engaged. With “Song to the Siren,” it’s easy to imagine the two of them in the studio, settling on a limited palette of awesome licks and then playing with them in experimental layers and effects until they’ve just passed the three minute mark—cut and master. It’s this dynamic approach that keeps Exit Planet Dust constantly in motion and perpetually sinking and rising in and out of a deep groove.
If there is a single song on the record that seems to at least make an attempt at traditional house music appeal, it’s “Three Little Birdies Down Beats.” Though weaker than usual, the bass drum is consistent but soon drowned out by another fresh funk breakbeat. Just as “Leave Home” had its signature sound, “Birdies” has a repeating acid worm that nearly crosses the line into over-repetition before falling away into a simple layered beat breakdown. The degree to which the duo failed to make a traditional dance floor thumper is a glorious mistake because they instead created something far more interesting and timeless in the process.
Exit Planet Dust also reveals the Chemical Brothers’ sentimental side, producing some beautifully arranged, reflective sample-based mood swings. The first six tracks all play as though they were a medley, running into each other in a style borrowed from the live DJ experience. Though a listener could pick out a dozen or so looping moments that constitute their personal favorites, the entire album also works as a complete end-to-end listening experience.
Meanwhile, “One Too Many Mornings” is as close to a ballad as the record comes. In applying the Chemical Brothers’ signature sound to a slower beat, and adding airy female vocal samples dubbed over a pad of angels to an organic meandering bassline, the album goes from being a simple dance music record to a complete music project worthy of entering the conversation for best records of 1995. Noted as the second best dance album of all time by the UK’s Muzik magazine, it continued to chart in the UK for the next five years.
Upon the appearance of the Charlatans’ lead singer Tim Burgess on “Life is Sweet,” the Chemical Brothers reach beyond their previously limited appeal in electronic music circles with an effort to pull in fans of the hugely popular Madchester sound of not only the Charlatans, but the likes of the Stone Roses and Inspiral Carpets as well. In another guest spot, British folktronica singer-songwriter Beth Orton adds a sonorous dynamism to the album’s closing track, “Alive Alone.”
Nearly two decades after its original release, Exit Planet Dust sits among that rare list of records that manage to retain a timeless appeal. An unfamiliar listener today could confuse this album for a new release. There’s a larger discussion to be had about the direction the Chemical Brothers took with later releases and their inability to measure up to Exit Planet Dust, but that’s to be expected when this mammoth debut set such a high bar” – Spectrum Culture
Key Cut: Leave Home
Dig Your Own Hole
Release Date: 7th April, 1997
Producers: Tom Rowlands/Ed Simons
Labels: Freestyle Dust/Virgin/Astralwerks
Standout Tracks: Dig Your Own Hole/Setting Sun/The Private Psychedelic Reel
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/product/the-chemical-brothers/dig-your-own-hole
Review:
“The list of ingredients reads like some techno nerd's record collection run amok. But the whole thing roars like the Massed Turntables of the Apocalypse: a high-stepping bass and drop-kick beats that sound like a speed-and-ecstasy spin on Sly and the Family Stone's wicked '69 jam "Sex Machine"; the reverb-and-percussion voodoo of reggae-dub wizard Lee Perry; a death-throe synth that howls like Jimi Hendrix's Strat in feedback purgatory; drum breaks that crack like Public Enemy DJ Terminator X doing a Buddy Rich at the decks; a call to party – "Back with another one of those block-rockin' beats!" – sampled from the 1989 track "Gucci Again," by the original gangsta rapper, Schoolly D.
And that's just the opening track on this album. You can dance to it until your limbs turn to tapioca or just sit, listen and have your mind blown inside out. Either way, "Block Rockin' Beats" will fry you alive. And along with the rest of Dig Your Own Hole, the genuinely explosive second LP by the British DJ and remix duo the Chemical Brothers, it burns the whole rock vs. techno argument into a fine, white ash.
This is a big season for taking sides. David Bowie cops some drum-and-bass licks for his latest album; U2 renounce ringing-guitar splendor for futuristic disco cheese; Prodigy rake in the long green from Madonna's record label. But don't believe the hype: Rock is not dead, and the DJ-generated, machine-driven aesthetic in late-'90s dance-floor culture is not the One True Bridge to the 21st century. Rock & roll, at its best and most basic, is dance music. And the greatest dance music, of any epoch or stripe, always rocks. A wild beauty of a record that thoroughly eclipses even the heavy-beats magic of Exit Planet Dust, the Chemicals' '95 full-length debut, Dig Your Own Hole rocks, rolls and surges without factionalist prejudice or fear of genre. Fuck tribalism and party to this.
The Chemicals – Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons – don't work with especially complex materials. With its robotic tempo and repetitive, yawning bass line, "Dig Your Own Hole" is maniacal in its relentless simplicity. In "It Doesn't Matter," Rowlands and Simons walk a perilously thin line between hypnotic and numbing, cranking up a Studio 54-style disco beat and freezing it in place with Kraftwerk-ian rigidity. At one point, the track drops down to nothing more than the rhythm, some bass hum and burbling electronics that sound like a coffee maker going postal.
But what the Chemicals may lack in variety of beats they make up for in textural and physical intensity. (Rowlands and Simons didn't call their '96 EP Loops of Fury for nothing.) "Elektro Bank" is fat, literally to the point of bursting, with hyperdrive beats, an air-raid-siren keyboard effect stuck on repeat and a sample of rapper Keith Murray breathlessly chanting, "Who is this doin' this type o' alpha-beta-psychedelic funkin'?" At times the interplay between sampled and synthesized effects – like the wild-style drums, choked wah-wah guitar and hovering ring of feedback in "Dig Your Own Hole" – feels like the real-time dynamics of a live, mad-dog funk band.
Two DJs do not make a band, conventionally speaking. And the Chemical Brothers aren't songwriters per se. They devise rhythm schemes, build tracks, generate atmospheres. But in a field dominated by solitary bedroom-studio auteurs and turntable cowboys content to cop licks from old jazz-funk and Moog-synthesizer records, Rowlands and Simons have a rare, empathic gift for picking collaborators, particularly vocalists, and wringing strange drama out of them.
In "Where Do I Begin?" the Chemicals gently tweak the stoic, mantralike singing of Beth Orton (who was also featured on Exit Planet Dust) so that her voice sounds like it's ringing around inside her head. "Setting Sun," written and recorded by the Chemicals with Noel Gallagher of Oasis, was the best single of 1996, hands down, and it appears on Dig Your Own Hole slightly remixed but with its Beatles-in-a-blender majesty intact. The acid-noir turbulence (garbled sitar, divebombing guitars) that buffets Gallagher's John Lennon-esque yelp is absolutely stunning – and just on the right side of overkill.
You also have to admire a DJ-remix act that isn't afraid of being remixed itself. "The Private Psychedelic Reel" is a Chemicals piece that Rowlands and Simons handed over to the brilliant American freak-rock band Mercury Rev for some instrumental garnish. The result is one long chord change – supercharged with sunrise guitars, exuberant drumming and whooping keyboards – that doesn't actually go anywhere melodically but ebbs and flows in its own prescribed place with irresistible force.
The track is definitely not techno music – there are too many guitars, and the beat is too weird. And it's not quite rock & roll – "The Private Psychedelic Reel" sounds more like Phil Spector conducting the Steve Reich Ensemble. But it is music for dancing, like everything else on Dig Your Own Hole. Put it on, turn it up and let yourself be moved” – Rolling Stone
Key Cut: Block Rockin' Beats
Surrender
Release Date: 21st June, 1999
Producers: The Chemical Brothers
Labels: Freestyle Dust/Virgin/Astralwerks
Standout Tracks: Under the Influence/Out of Control/Let Forever Be
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/product/the-chemical-brothers/surrender-8
Review:
“The poster boys of big beat, that hip amalgam of electronica and rock that has dug its way into the national consciousness via "The Rockafeller Skank," have been busy since their 1997 breakthrough, Dig Your Own Hole. Maybe last year's DJ mix album, the reasonably decent Brothers Gonna Work It Out, should have been the clue, but Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons have clearly been raiding a library- sized record collection since their last offering of "original" music.
"Music: Response," the album's leadoff, starts like a ride on the Autobahn with Kraftwerk circa the mid '70s, with its analog synth blips and monotone computerwelt voices, before tossing in some ferocious beats to bring Krautrock into the new millennium. The mood carries through on "Under the Influence" with more Kraftwerk- styled noodlings. Meanwhile, their best instrumental effort is "The Sunshine Underground," an eight- and- a- half minute ride through chiming tones, wafting flute- like sounds, and sputtering and gurgling synths that intertwine with the briefest of dreamy vocals. Actually, it wouldn't have been out of place on the last Orbital album.
Surrender will receive a ton of hype based on its superstar guest appearances, and none more historically relevant than "Out of Control" with New Order's Bernard Sumner on vocals. Being electronic dance music freaks from Manchester, New Order is like the holy grail to the Chemical Brothers and it's easy to see why. The Chemicals share with their Manchester predecessors an obsession with hypnotic, melodic, dance beats. "Out of Control" works so well it could be a lost track from Low Life. After his turn on "Setting Son" with the Chemicals in 1996, Oasis' terminally out- of- style Noel Gallagher returns for another psychedelic, Beatles-esque anthem on "Let Forever Be," again snagging the rhythm track from "Tomorrow Never Knows" off Revolver.
Surrender is both the Chemical Brothers most immediately satisfying work and, perhaps not coincidentally, the most like a rock album of their career. Unlike a fair share of techno, these songs feel like "songs," not a collection of clever samples and a race to the fastest BPM on the planet. Yeah, you can go out and buy your jungle, your trance, your trip-hop and your ambient, but why would you when you'd be sacrificing the greatest gift of all: Surrender's love and understanding” – Pitchfork
Key Cut: Hey Boy Hey Girl
No Geography
Release Date: 12th April, 2019
Producers: The Chemical Brothers
Labels: Virgin EMI/Astralwerks
Standout Tracks: Eve of Destruction/No Geography/We've Got to Try
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/product/the-chemical-brothers/no-geography
Review:
“The original masters of big electronic beats, Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, are back with their ninth album, a return of sorts to the idiosyncratic sound that rewrote the rules of dance and pushed it into the mainstream back in the ‘90s: rough edges and analogue sonics sculpted from psychedelic synths, carefully-curated vocal samples and rambunctious beats.
Far fewer guests appear here than on their 2015 installment, though it's Japanese rapper Nene and Norwegian artist Aurora that open proceedings with retro-edged ‘The Eve Of Destruction’. Title track ‘No Geography’ holds a nostalgic euphoria while liquid disco ‘Got To Keep On’ captures that trademark The Chemical Brothers hypnotic quality, building to a maddening climax.
The discordant sounds of ‘Gravity Drops’ disorientates before the haunting ‘The Universe Sent Me’ emerges as a cry of surrender to the beat, with the relentless refrain “I cave in”.
The massive ‘Free Yourself’ evokes images of festival crowds calling en masse for liberation via dance. ‘MAH’ seethes with a latent aggression that seems to epitomise the modern condition, but the soothing vocals and interplanetary soundscape of ‘Catch Me I’m Falling’ provides a much-needed soft landing back to earth.
Three decades after forming, hitting the reset button has unleashed this iconic duo afresh, demonstrating an insatiable ability to forge the perfect dance track, whatever the era. Go get your rave on.
9/10” – CLASH
Key Cut: Free Yourself
For That Beautiful Feeling
Release Date: 8th September, 2023
Producers: The Chemical Brothers
Label: Virgin EMI
Standout Tracks: Live Again/No Reason/For That Beautiful Feeling
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/product/the-chemical-brothers/for-that-beautiful-feeling
Review:
“Tom Rowland and Ed Simons have generally stuck to the template they set with the slew of singles they created in the early nineties after meeting at Manchester club Mecca, The Hacienda, and the sounds on their 1995 long-playing debut, Exit Planet Dust.
The blueprint set with their first three albums: the follow-up to their debut, 1997’s Dig Your Own Hole with Surrender coming two years later, has been steadily followed with subtle stylistic tweaks to remain contemporary, with strong album drops every four years, 2010’s spectacular Further being a particular late-career high point.
Here, as on Further, and their previous album, No Geography, they play to their strengths by looking inward and removing the clutter of featured guests which really lets the music shine. Their previous albums did suffer somewhat under the weight of a featured artist and this is exemplified on "Skipping Like A Stone" featuring a slightly nondescript turn from Beck whose vocals get in the way of the beautiful backing track which sounds like an imaginary Chems remix of a lost My Bloody Valentine track, and let’s face it, when your collaborations are as flawless as their work with legendary rapper Q-Tip on "Galvanize" in 2004, or "The Golden Path" featuring the vocal of Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips, a year earlier, there really is nowhere else to take the featured artist thing because you’ve produced two of the all-time best.
All the established Chemical Brothers tropes are here; the storming techno track, the dumb acid pounders, the bumping Hip-Hop cum electro hybrid, and even though we’re familiar with these moves now, their exemplary production values mean they can still fascinate and thrill. By cutting up the vocals of Halo Maud and using them as additional instrumentation, "Live Again" is a euphoric piece of shoegaze-inflected electronica and total peak-time Chems. Sampling the voice of underrated post-punk singer Adrian Borland (The Sound) and stitching slices of it onto the block-party beats of "No Reason" is inspired, while the fusion of soulful vocals, against abrasive synth lines and clattering beats on "Goodbye" is another one of their euphoric excursions into new wave psychedelia.
Elsewhere, sinister dubstep-influenced workouts ("Magic Wand") collide with shuffling nineties-tinged R&B replete with Nile Rodgers-esque guitar work ("Fountains"). The reworked version of 2021 single "The Darkness You Fear" puts Jungle in their place when it comes to sumptuous 70s soul vibes reworked to come alive in dark nightclubs, and in "Feels Like I Am Dreaming" we have them revisiting the slow build into grinding techno they so masterfully excel in, the massive breakdown at the midpoint is purpose-built to get those rave uncles partying like it's 1995.
Of all the nineties electronic acts that reached out beyond the underground to achieve mainstream success; The Prodigy, Leftfield, Orbital, Fatboy Slim etc, looking back at each body of work, only Underworld have truly kept up with the consistency of The Chemical Brothers, and with the scintillating form shown on For That Beautiful Feeling, it’s going to take something really spectacular to catch up” – The Line of Best Fit
Key Cut: The Darkness That You Fear
Lauren Laverne spoke with The Chemical Brothers on Thursday (14th September). I am going to move things on and put out two playlists: one with their best work and great deep cuts; the other songs from those inspired by The Chemical Brothers. First, let’s get some biography from AllMusic:
“Grammy-winning English electronic duo the Chemical Brothers are one of dance music's biggest crossover successes, known for an arena-sized sound rooted in club culture, psychedelia, and hip-hop. Rising to prominence during the mid-'90s, they unite such varying influences as Public Enemy, Cabaret Voltaire, and My Bloody Valentine to create a dance-rock-rap fusion that rivaled the best old-school DJs on their own terms. They keep crowds on the dancefloor by working through any number of groove-oriented styles featuring unmistakable samples from familiar guitar riffs to vocal tags to various sound effects. When the duo (Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons) decided to supplement their DJ careers by turning their bedrooms into recording studios, they pioneered a style of music (later termed big beat) remarkable for its lack of energy loss from the dancefloor to the radio. From their seminal 1995 debut, Exit Planet Dust, Chemical Brothers albums are less collections of songs and more hour-long journeys chock-full of deep, bomb-studded beats, percussive breakdowns, and effects borrowed from a host of sources. All in all, the duo proved one of the few exceptions to the rule that intelligent dance music could never be bombastic nor truly satisfying to the seasoned rock fan, helping them become one of the few dance acts to enjoy simultaneous success in the British and American mainstream and in critical quarters with albums such as 1997's Dig Your Own Hole and 1999's Surrender. They have remained a fixture atop the U.K. album charts and collaborated with artists such as the Flaming Lips, Q-Tip (the 2005 smash "Galvanize"), Beck, and St. Vincent. 2019's No Geography brought their total Grammy wins to six, and their tenth studio album, For That Beautiful Feeling, arrived in 2023.
Growing up, both Rowlands and Simons grooved to an eclectic musical diet, ranging from the Smiths and Jesus and Mary Chain to Kraftwerk and Public Enemy. They met while taking the same history course at Manchester University, though neither was a native Mancunian -- Rowlands enrolled because of the legendary Haçienda nightclub nearby, while Simons acknowledged the city as birthplace to the Smiths and New Order. The pair began sampling Madchester's vibrant nightclub scene together during 1989 and 1990, just at the peak of Britain's fascination with a DJ'ing style named Balearic. Pioneered at the island hot spot of Ibiza during the mid-'80s, Balearic relied on a blend of early house music, Italian disco, rare-groove jazz and funk, Northern soul, hip-hop, and alternative dance. Original Balearic DJs like Trevor Fung, Paul Oakenfold, and Mike Pickering brought the sound back to indie clubs in London and Manchester, and the style proved very attractive to musical eclectics like Rowlands and Simons.
Though Rowlands was already performing in the alternative dance group Ariel, the pair began DJ'ing together at the Manchester club Naked Under Leather in 1991. Hardly believing that their weekend project would progress, they took the semi-serious handle Dust Brothers (a tribute to the American production team responsible for one of their favorite albums, the Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique). Despite their doubts, Rowlands and Simons' club night did grow more popular, thanks to the duo's Balearic mix of rare house tracks flavored with hip-hop breakdowns, independent-dance fusions, and ancient secondhand discards. After deciding to try re-creating their unique sound in their tiny bedroom studio, the Dust Brothers emerged with "Song to the Siren," an intriguing example of the new alternative dance scene including sample sources Meat Beat Manifesto and This Mortal Coil.
After the single was pressed up on a limited release of 500 copies, it began getting attention from Britain's top DJs, initially including an old friend named Justin Robertson but later including Andrew Weatherall and Darren Emerson. Weatherall licensed the single to Junior Boy's Own Records, and after the pair had finished university, they moved back to London to work on another EP (14th Century Sky) and a residency at another club. After their third release, "My Mercury Mouth," the duo began to get more high-profile clients for remixing: besides Justin Robertson's Lionrock collective, Primal Scream, the Prodigy, and the Charlatans all received treatments.
When lawyers for the original Dust Brothers came calling in 1995, though, Rowlands and Simons were forced to change their name to the Chemical Brothers (the proposed Dust Brothers U.K. was turned down). Word on the street and nightclub scene was so good that it hardly mattered; their new residency at the Heavenly Sunday Social quickly became one of the hottest club nights in England -- documented on the mix disc Live at the Social, Vol. 1 -- and their debut album, Exit Planet Dust, was heavily praised by critics. Another fan of the record, Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher, agreed to lend his vocals to a future single named "Setting Sun," the Chemicals' tribute to one of their own favorites, the Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows." The single went to number one in late 1996, and the Chemical Brothers opened for the giant Oasis concert at Knebworth besides headlining their own shows all over the world.
The Chemical Brothers' second album, Dig Your Own Hole, took the top spot on the album charts upon its release in April 1997, and on the wings of America's growing electronica push, the album sailed to number 14 stateside and went gold. The duo released a mix album in 1998, Brothers Gonna Work It Out, and followed with their third studio LP, Surrender, in 1999. The album featured a second Gallagher collaboration, "Let Forever Be," as well as songs with Bernard Sumner and Hope Sandoval, and one of the duo's most well-known tracks, "Hey Boy Hey Girl." The duo continued their white-label Electronic Battle Weapon series with a 2001 single which would soon see widespread release as "It Began in Afrika." It appeared on the duo's fourth album, 2002's Come with Us, a sort of back-to-basics effort focusing on storming club tracks. Its only guests were the Verve's Richard Ashcroft and frequent collaborator Beth Orton. Singles 93-03 was issued the next year, including "The Golden Path" with the Flaming Lips (a U.K. Top 20 hit) and "Get Yourself High" featuring k-os.
Rowlands and Simons returned with their fifth album, 2005's Push the Button, with guest vocalists Tim Burgess, Kele Okereke, and the Magic Numbers. "Galvanize," featuring Q-Tip, became one of their biggest hits, reaching number three in the U.K. and even earning a gold certification in America. The music celebrity parade continued on 2007's We Are the Night, this time including the Klaxons, Willy Mason, Fatlip, and Midlake. A second singles collection, Brotherhood, appeared in 2008, including the first ten Electronic Battle Weapon tracks (most of which ended up on their albums or as B-sides) as a second disc.
In 2010 they released Further, their first album with no vocal collaborations, and in 2011 they released Hanna, their first film soundtrack. Sticking with film, they released Don't Think to select cinemas in early 2012, which combined a Chemical Brothers live show and a visual document from their longtime art director Adam Smith. The film and live show were made available for purchase in March 2012. Another film contribution followed in 2014, when the Chemical Brothers collaborated with Miguel and Lorde for a song on the Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Pt. 1 soundtrack. With 2015 came the first Chemical Brothers full-length in five years, Born in the Echoes, which featured guest appearances from Beck, St. Vincent, Cate Le Bon, and the returning Q-Tip. It debuted at number one in the U.K. and became the group's sixth chart-topping album.
As their global tour drew to a close, they returned to their studio to begin working on their ninth studio album, desiring to bring their sound back to basics. They tried a far more direct approach to crafting tracks, working closely with Norwegian singer Aurora and Japanese rapper Nene. The Grammy-winning No Geography was released in April 2019 and included the singles "MAH" and "Got to Keep On," the latter of which scored a Grammy for Best Dance Recording. Later that year, the pair celebrated the 20th anniversary of Surrender with a massive reissue that packaged the original album with discs of remixes, B-sides, music videos, and the concert video Live at Glastonbury 2000. A slightly haunting single titled "The Darkness That You Fear" arrived in 2021, and Dig Your Own Hole was given the 25th anniversary reissue treatment, including previously unreleased demos and alternate mixes, in addition to a recording of the duo's 1997 set at the Lowlands festival.
The Chemical Brothers released the funky, stuttering "No Reason" in 2023, followed by "Live Again" (featuring Halo Maud) and a second Beck collaboration, "Skipping Like a Stone." All three songs (plus a remix of "The Darkness That You Fear") were included on the duo's tenth album, For That Beautiful Feeling. They also released Paused in Cosmic Reflection, a career-spanning book featuring interviews with the duo as well as collaborators such as Noel Gallagher, Beth Orton, and video director Michel Gondry”.
It is clear that, in addition to being pioneers and this legendary duo who have made the most amazing music, the fact they are celebrating their thirtieth anniversary but also releasing new music means we can look back and forward at the same time. I wonder what The Chemical Brothers will produce for album eleven. The Chemical Brothers have some tour dates set, so do go and see them if you can. It leaves me to wish The Chemical Brothers a happy thirtieth anniversary and, on behalf of us all…
THANK you for the music.