The Chemical Brothers – Further (2xLP)

Further is the seventh studio album by The Chemical Brothers, released in 2010. It marks a deliberate shift in approach: the duo pared back guest vocalists, instead choosing to explore more atmospheric soundscapes and extended instrumental passages. Tracks like Snow and Escape Velocity set the tone with spacious synth layers, feedback, and motorik pulses, establishing a mood that trades bombast for introspective energy. Despite the quieter moments, there are still peaks of intensity through complex beat structures and vivid sonic imagery that draw on their earlier catalog without leaning heavily on past formulas.

Visually ambitious as well, each of the album’s eight tracks is accompanied by its own film directed by Adam Smith and Marcus Lyall, reinforcing the immersive, journey-like quality of the record. The flow from track to track is treated almost as a single continuous suite: moments of drama and tension alternate gracefully with more dreamlike passages and melodic interludes. Further demonstrates that even more than a decade into their career, The Chemical Brothers remain capable of evolving, not simply revisiting, while delivering something that feels both familiar and fresh.

Reviews:

“Scrapping big-name guests and harnessing the live fury they’ve shown in recent years, the Chems make their best LP in more than a decade.” – Pitchfork

“Seven albums in and Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons might no longer be raving on the most future-facing side of dancefloor, but their way with an effortless arms-in-the-air banger is undisputable.” – NME

“For a duo so tied in the public mind to a specific time and place (circa 1997, when electronica didn’t become American pop’s next big thing), The Chemical Brothers have continued to reinvent themselves.” – The A.V. Club