"No Geography" is arguably the best electronic album of the year so far. Thirty years into their career, the duo still know how to throw an all-out atmospheric rager.
Name a more influential duo from the 90's that has stood the test of time through electronic and dance music besides The Chemical Brothers. Hailing from Manchester, Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons have created some of the best electronic releases to come out of the 90's, including Surrender and Dig Your Own Hole. The duo has retraced their steps recently with Born in the Echoes back in 2015 and with their new album over here. No Geography, the duo's ninth studio album, is arguably their best in over a decade. Pushing past trends and relying on what makes their classics so damn great, The Chemical Brothers have a return to form of sorts with a range of bangers and atmospheric cuts in a watertight ten songs at 46 minutes.
No Geography is a surreal album experience right from the start. When listening, the continuous flow of the record is so satisfying with one song melding to the next (most of the time). With "Eve of Destruction," there could not have been a more explosive opener. Robotic vocals, bouncing synths, tight bass, and soaring percussion fly all around through your headphones. Heading right into "Bango," it sounds like a solid continuation of the previous track but focused on tighter percussion. The title track is much more cinematic and beautiful with fluttering synths that reach the stars, with a sample narrating about leaving everything behind. Following that up is the best song on the album, being "Got to Keep On." A disco-influenced gem focused on a groovy vocal sample as its chorus. With bell chimes, a soothing vocal delivery from AURORA (who contributes to many of the tracks here), and the ear shattering drone blast near its end, "Got to Keep On" is not only the one of the pinnacle and mesmerizing tracks on the album, but of the year.
The industrial "Gravity Drops" becomes more repetitively gripping as time goes on, but its beat switch gives it newer life in the latter half. "The Universe Sent Me" features a Björk-ish delivery from AURORA looping over a very melancholy and one of the more soothing instrumentals from them. It's a nice break from the faster paced material the listener is being enthralled in. "We've Got to Try" focuses around a soul sample and transforms into a 90's banger. Reminiscent of Björk's "Army of Me," the song doesn't break the ground that Björk's 1995 single did, but it's still very hard-hitting. The next two tracks are bangers, but not really the brightest, being "Free Yourself" and "MAH." They're decent tracks, but considering awful choices from placing god awful layered synths blaring in the chorus of "Free Yourself" to whoever decided to make "MAH" five and a half minutes long, they're the worst on the album for sure. It's hard to salvage them considering all the negatives, but are still listenable when listening to the album in full. The album's closer, "Catch Me I'm Falling," leaves a nice break for the listener with soothing AURORA vocals over an airy, dreamy instrumental.
Even considering the road bumps near the end of the record, No Geography is still one of the best electronic albums of the year so far. The album is definitely what I would want to be hearing from the duo and I'm sure the fans would too. Thirty years into their career, the duo still know how to throw an all-out atmospheric rager that makes you forget about all of the problems in this world.
My Rating: 8 / 10
Favorite Songs: "Got to Keep On," "Eve of Destruction," "No Geography," "Bango," "We've Got to Try"
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