Review: The Chemical Brothers- Born In The Echoes

The Chemical Brothers are made up of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, who formed in Manchester in 1989. They are now on their 8th studio album after enjoying wide spread acclaim over the years for their contribution to dance music. Their contribution to the genre has been noted with the awarding of four Grammy award and one Brit award so far.

Their roots come from breakbeat hardcore and big beat, however their sound has evolved with each album as they've embraced new trends in music. They are well renounced for their live show theatrics including lasers and large scale graphics that fit well with the music and are designed to entrance the audience.

This new album has all the energy and production quality of previous albums, but also somehow feels up to date. The lead singles from the album are 'Sometimes I Feel so Deserted' and 'Go', which are also the first two tracks on the album. The former is a decent start track to the album that really sets up 'Go' which has a great beat and a really catchy hook.

Review: Years & Years- Communion

Years & Years are a British synthpop/electronica group from London. They formed in 2010 after Mikey Goldsworthy and Emre Turkmen met online, Olly Alexander (vocals) then joined at a later date. 

The band have gained critical acclaim in recent times and won the BBC Radio 1 sound of 2015 poll. They have been championed by Radio 1 to a big extent with Zane Lowe making single 'King' the Hottest Record of the day. 

I think this album starts particularly poorly with a wishy washy intro and two substandard tracks in 'Real' and 'Shine'. It can be argued that this sets the tone for the album as a whole which seems to lack direction and focus.  

The two lead singles from this album are 'King' and 'Desire'. 'King' has enjoyed a lot more play time, however out of the two I believe that 'Desire' is the better track with it's tropical inspired beat that makes you want to dance. Having said that, 'King' isn't a bad track, it's just not as good as 125 million listens on Spotify says it is.

Review: Tame Impala- Currents

The 5 piece from Perth, Australia are now on their 3rd album. After the success of previous album 'Lonerism', all eyes were on the band to see whether they could replicate that success with the new album. The band are the certified poster boys for the trend towards a psych sound in Perth, and Australia as a whole, alongside bands such as Pond.

In a recent interview with NME, front man, Kevin Parker said he "wanted to make something that from the sound of it could be down at the club". This has been achieved to a certain extent as the there are a lot more repetitive beats and tracks with a faster pace to them. This change in sound is positive in my opinion and will likely add to their already fantastic live show.

The two lead singles from this album that have been enjoying lots of play time are 'Let it Happen' and 'Cause I'm a Man'. These tracks have a sound to them that's typical of this album, this is kind a mix between Tame Impala's classic 'psych' sound and the newer upbeat dance sound that the band have talked about. Out of the two I prefer 'Let it happen' because I really like the riff and how they've expertly switched the speed of the track at various points.