Album Review: The Chemical Brothers - No Geography

There’s several entry points to the Chemical Brothers’ ninth long-player but the traditional album experience is the one that pays off. 

Eve Of Destruction is the beefy belter that assures us everything is all good on Planet Dust, flowing into a flawless run with the slightly Basement Jaxx-flavoured Bango and the title track. But be prepared to totally spill your bloody drink on the dancefloor as Got To Keep On’s sampling of Peter Brown’s 1978 disco hit Dance With Me inspires gleeful misbehaviour.

By this halfway point, it is clear the duo have gone back to basics in their humbly constructed "studio within a studio" and focused on making a solid dance album of pure escapism with little distraction care of guest vocalists or over complicated sample gymnastics. The second side is almost as satisfying as the first with Free Yourself and MAH coming closest to making any sort of social statement. Only the squawky Catch Me I’m Falling fails to meet the high benchmark the Brothers have made over their 20-plus-year career, but still, No Geography is as robust as they’ve been since Come With Us.