Before the letter “a” was tagged onto the end of “electronic,” before the legions of Brooklynites came in talking about the sweet synth on some previously folky band’s new release, before it became hip to listen to house music seriously, there existed a phenomenon called the Chemical Brothers. In their heyday they were true innovators, popularizing the big beat sound and pushing the whole electronic genre further into the mainstream consciousness. And despite the frequency with which you now hear their tracks on movies and action-packed video games, in the wake of their peak popularity, the British duo has dutifully managed to evade the slump that often occurs when a band’s sound and image are supposed to constantly evolve in order to sound current.

“Further,” then, is an intriguing title for their new album, in that it seems to suggest that the Chemical Brothers are indeed hoping to prove their relevancy, or at least their stamina, with the eight songs here, each one presented with accompanying visuals by Adam Smith and Marcus Lyall. Smith and Lyall, who have done the backdrops for the duo’s live shows since 1994, do an impeccable job of synching up the songs with imagery that brings the dance experience right into your home (check out the dancing light man on their site’s teaser for
“Escape Velocity”).

As for the music, though, the album does not seem to push Chemical Ed and Chemical Tom towards anything particularly inventive or mind-blowing; instead, Further comes off as a finely-tuned retrospective of all of their best moves over the years, incorporating their signature big beats, screeching synths and touches of psychedelia into one cohesive batch of highly entertaining, and of course danceable, material. Even just the first two tracks on their own contain a bit of everything, with the prettily airy “Snow” melting sweetly into “Escape Velocity,” which in turn shifts from alien-invasion sounds to a vintage house trance so seamlessly that it’s no wonder the Chemical Brothers have been packing dance floors for two decades. The lightning-fast transitions between extremely distinct sounds, as on the 12-minute-long “Escape Velocity,” are what make this album shine against the lackluster efforts the Brothers have put out in the past few years.

“Another World” continues the dizzy high of the first two tracks, sounding surprisingly fresh and modern. The lazy, breezy backbeat is periodically overtaken by a primal human scream that crystallizes and dissolves back into increasingly punctuated and stressed beats, creating an interplay between the two that sounds strikingly natural. “Dissolve,” “Swoon,” and “K+D+B” have the same dreamy, effortless, and lightly psychedelic qualities, and together create a wistful dreamscape in which the warm sounds of vintage synthesizers playfully flirt with cleaner pop beats. The female vocals sampled in songs such as “Swoon” also never fail to disappoint, lending a much-needed organic quality to songs that would have otherwise sounded flat.

Considering that Further unapologetically offers up a whole sampler of different electronic styles, however, it is hard to tell whether or not the inclusion of a silly song like “Horse Power” was a wise choice for the Chemical Brothers to stick right in the middle of such a laid back, luminescent and enjoyable string of songs. Everyone can attest to the silliness of the manly robot voices that pervaded 90s electronic music, and as such it’s almost impossible not to find the first minute of the song, in which said voice bellows “Horse! Power!” over and over, hilarious. In a way it’s awesomely campy and reminiscent of their earlier hit, “It Began In Afrika,” so kudos to the Chemical Brothers for not pretending the trend never happened. At the same time, though, if you’re in a blissful groove listening to the album straight through, mechanized neighs and robot voices might prove an unwelcome interruption to what is otherwise an extremely well put-together set. Ultimately, it might be best to skip the song entirely and listen to the rest straight through to “Wonders of the Deep,” which doesn’t match the heights reached in the beginning of the album but is still out of this world.

On Further, the band expertly plucks a whole multitude of the best aspects of electronic music, producing a work that is supremely polished, constructed, and vibrant. Though it really does nothing to support the idea that they are progressing beyond their peers, the seamless flow of the tracks and the superb visuals that go along with each individual song are more than enough to compensate for the lack of inventiveness. The point is, though, the Chemical Brothers have done enough pioneering in their time. They really don’t need to do any more than remind everyone just how proficient they are in their own realm. Listening to even just the first few songs, it feels as though you’ve been personally invited on a tour of the electronic world by the grandmasters themselves, and it’s a trip to realize just how many facets of the genre the duo has covered over the years. The Chemical Brothers have come a long way since “Block Rockin’ Beats” and with Further they prove themselves worthy of the title of overseers of the electronic world with what is sure to please their worldwide fans.

Track List:
1. Snow
2. Escape Velocity
3. Another World
4. Dissolve
5. Horse Power
6. Swoon
7. K+D+B
8. Wonders of the Deep