Beloved British electronic duo the Chemical Brothers released their 10th album on Friday, more than three decades into their career. But does it get any easier with time?
Not according to one-half of the outfit, Tom Rowlands.
“I think it’s just more complicated” he said, speaking via Zoom from his studio in the U.K. “Everyone’s got a new theory on how to do it.”
Prior to the album’s release, Rowlands and Ed Simons shared four singles from the forthcoming album, “For That Beautiful Feeling” — including their second collaboration with Beck, the track “Skipping Like A Stone.” They previously worked with the singer on the 2015 track “Wide Open.”
They also made it a point to test the tracks out on dance floors and festival fields prior to the album — “playing them (live) as we write them,” as Rowlands explains — which, in turn, influenced their studio decisions.
It’s working. Audiences responded well to the smattering of tracks from “For That Beautiful Feeling” that the Chemical Brothers wove into their sets this summer, no doubt drumming up excitement for the new release.
The rave-ready “No Reason” became the lead single from the record — because it felt “fresh and different” and also “really fun to play live,” says Rowlands. But really, it’s all about how he and Simons feel about the track — and sometimes if a song doesn’t go over well in front of an audience, well, that just solidifies its value to the duo.
“Sometimes something going down really badly, will just convince you of its greatness even more,” Rowlands says of this live-first tactic. “You’re like, ‘Yes. People aren’t ready for this!’”
Together since 1989, with 10 albums and countless performances across the globe, the duo has seen their fair share of the good and the bad.
Headlining the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival in 2000 is a standout — though Rowlands says it was “so massive it’s hard to get a handle on what you’re doing.”
And then there’s the bad: A very different experience during a 9:30 a.m. set in Ibiza, early on in their career that didn’t quite go to plan.
They were “the wrong people at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Rowlands recalled. “Just lots of anger and tears … sensible people would’ve gone to bed and then have a nice juice breakfast.”
