British dance giants The Chemical Brothers have looked back on their early hype in the United States.
Dance music has never really penetrated the mainstream of American culture. Despite originating in the United States electronic music has enjoyed a far higher cultural profile and Europe, and especially the UK.
But the Chemical Brothers were supposed to change this. The duo seemed to spark something in the Stateside conscious, with early tracks such as ‘Block Rockin Beats’ winning plenty of airtime.
However the expected breakthrough never happened, leaving The Chemical Brothers to conquer the UK. The duo returned recently with their seventh studio album ‘Further’, a stunning blast of energy.
Their finest release in a decade, ‘Further’ will no doubt fail to make an enormous impression on the Billboard charts. Speaking to Time Out, Ed Simons revealed that he never really expected the group’s music to conquer America.
“The idea that electronic music was going to be some really mainstream thing, and you would never hear anything else, was kind of a ridiculous idea in the first place” the producer explained.
“What was really odd for us back then, when we were doing interviews for Time and Newsweek, was having to explain that the music that ignited the spark for us in the U.K. came from America in the first place. We’d have to explain to the U.S. press who Derrick May and Larry Heard are. Actually, though, we feel really appreciated in America. And here we are again.”
Continuing, the producer reflected on ‘Further’. The Chemical Brothers seemed to re-connect with their club heritage on the new album, stripping away the high profile guest appearances they are known for.
“When we were still going to clubs, we used to get the most excited about the songs that were really odd and didn’t sound like anything else, and those tracks were our blueprint on Further. As far as vocals go, we’re really happy that we’ve worked with Noel Gallagher and Q-Tip and everyone—and we’re really proud of those songs—but it just felt we had a lot of vocals on the last two albums.”
“We have some voices on the new album, but it’s all Tom and our friend Stephanie Dosen. Not relying on vocalists forced us to think of a new set of ideas on how to make the songs work. There’s a lot less structure to the new songs and a lot more space.”
The Chemical Brothers new album ‘Further’ is out now.
