The beat goes on
The Chemical Brothers bring the exuberant spirit of the 90s to their new dance music release
Callum Easter’s musical wonderland represents huge potential on a tiny budget
With Orbital, Underworld and, the sad passing of Keith Flint notwithstanding, The Prodigy currently sounding as lithe and limber as they did in their 90s prime, it seems electronic dance music remains the creative elixir.
The Chemical Brothers also belong on this evergreen roll of honour, with their ninth album, No Geography ,as supporting evidence. Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons dug out their oldest kit to craft this shrewd, satisfying suite which, rather than hark back to their rave heyday, is a dynamic and eclectic celebration of dancefloor-friendly sounds from across the last 40 years.
Forget the mid-90s – the old school house music of Eve of Destruction occupies late 80s Kevin Saunderson territory and mixes in late 70s post-punk style with its irresistible springy funk bassline and the punky electronica sound of Cabaret Voltaire.
Bango brings the percussive party vibe of Basement Jaxx, combining Afro-jazz and electro funk influences to create an homage to the early 80s New York party scene.
The ecstatic rave of the title track pays tribute to their own particular heritage and the treats keep coming – the disco chimes and gospel vocals
of Got To Keep On, the funk-infused trance of Gravity Drops, the soaring soul sample and beefy bass drops of We’ve Got to Try and the ambient techno odyssey Catch Me I’m Falling.
Norwegian singer/songwriter Aurora provides light, fragrant live vocals for The Universe Sent Me on an album otherwise built around vocal samples, constructed with compositional rigour and built on a trenchant love and appreciation for music which compels us to move.
For the next generation of gifted electro pop composer, look no further than Callum Easter, who shares studio space and a magpie aesthetic with Young Fathers.
Following two mini-albums of one man band creativity, his debut fulllength is a DIY feast of penetrating low frequencies paired with airy vocals and distorted instrumentation to otherworldly bluesy effect.
The title track of Here Or Nowhere begins with quaking bass notes over which Easter’s voice wafts alongside the ethereal strum of autoharp. Elsewhere, he teams a soft, soulful croon with spectral piano on the “sore” Tell Em Boy.
Stormy guitar and phased synths provide the backdrop for the spoken word of Fall Down, a doomy rock riff underpins the soulful strut of
Be There Always, while this modest self-taught musician harmonises with himself on the cosmic doo-wop of Space In Time. Easter’s musical wonderland represents huge potential on a tiny budget.
Banish familiar images of the cuddly mum-friendly electro pop star as Erasure frontman Andy
Bell inhabits his lyrically explicit, musically esoteric, theatrical creation Torsten for his continuing
collaboration with playwright Barney Ashton and musician Christopher Frost.
Torsten in Queereteria is the third album outing for the ageless lothario alter ego, mixing musical theatre, cabaret and electronica elements across four acts of remembrance of assignations past. The tales of debauchery get repetitive but the music travels confidently from lounge pop to twinkling vaudeville prog to bombastic rock.
Portuguese crooner Salvador Sobral delivered a rare moment of intimacy and understatement in the midst of the dayglo circus spectacular that is the Eurovision Song Contest when he won in 2017 with the captivating bossa nova-influenced ballad Amor
Pelos Dois, penned and produced by his singer/songwriter sister Luisa.
His second solo album, recorded following a heart transplant, also draws on traditional Portuguese and Brazilian influences, including a cover of samba composer Lupicínio Rodrigues, but is no slavish time capsule, stirring in modern jazz and pop elements to the classy piano balladry without diluting the timeless appeal.