Chemical Brothers - Surrender (Vinyl)

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Surrender is the third studio album by English electronic music duo The Chemical Brothers. It was released on 21 June 1999 in the United Kingdom by Freestyle Dust and Virgin Records and in the United States by Astralwerks. The album saw the duo exploring further various electronic styles, including house music.

Four singles were released from the album: "Hey Boy Hey Girl", "Let Forever Be", "Out of Control", and "Music: Response".

Surrender features guest vocalists Noel Gallagher (Oasis), Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star), Bernard Sumner (New Order) and Jonathan Donahue (Mercury Rev).

The album is more experimental than previous efforts. 'Let Forever Be' is a clear tribute to The Beatles' 'Tomorrow Never Knows'. "Out of Control" is house influenced, and the breakout single "Hey Boy Hey Girl" has a rave sound.

Of 'The Sunshine Underground', Tom Rowlands said: "I think the title came from those psychedelic poster books. We wanted it to sound like a live band finding its feet. It was influenced by a live version of 'Angel Sigh' on Spiritualized's Fucked Up Inside. It went through a lot of versions and this one's a composite of a lot of different takes. I love the mad bit in the middle when it goes into hyperspace and turns into this huge, gurning monster."

Many of the artists that the duo worked with on this album, they would work with again. The duo were quick to work again with Bobby Gillespie, who appears on the third track and third single "Out of Control": they remixed Gillespie's Primal Scream song "Swstk Ys" (as it was titled on the 1999 single release), which later appeared on the band's 2000 album Xtrmntr.

Surrender was the first Chemical Brothers album not to feature an appearance by Beth Orton, though she would appear on the following album Come with Us, on the song "The State We're In".

 



By 1999 The Chemical Brothers still had a few more good years left in them before their sound would noticeably spiral down hill into a more commercial EDM pit. A heavy portion of the album is instrumental. With the exception of some words of repetition on songs like Music: Response, and Got Glint. Other actual vocals are attributed to Bernard Sumner of New Order on Out Of Control, Noel Gallagher of Oasis on Let Forever Be, Hope Sandoval on Asleep From Day, and Jonathan Donahue on Dream On.

While sure you may be able to call this album Big Beat the amount Techno (Hey Boy Hey Girl) and House (Under The Influence) direct, as well make the record more diverse. This isn't the point at which The Chemical Brothers would become derivatives of themselves on most album cuts. As a matter of fact there is so much uniqueness to each track here that flow from song to song is seamless and attention keeping.

This doesn't mean some tracks aren't greater than others. The aggressive saw leads on Orange Wedge become quite stale in the mix after a while. Thankfully the track is only just over three minutes long. But these are the kind of bumps that you should expect going into almost any EDM record. Surrender is quite progressive and advanced. I think The Sunshine Underground could uphold that statement alone. But what I will say is that The Chemical Brothers like so many other EDM artists aren't for everybody. Most people like to stay within certain sub genres of Electronic Dance Music. So I would advise if you're a fan of Orbital or Underworld you may find this to be much to bright, especially in terms of the mixing. But if you like stuff like the CJ Bolland or Hardfloor you may find this to be more accessible listening to satisfy your EDM urges.

By: CarCrashInterior

A1 Music: Response
A2 Under The Influence
B1 Out Of Control
B2 Orange Wedge
B3 Let Forever Be
C1 The Sunshine Underground
C2 Asleep From Day
C3 Got Glint?
D1 Hey Boy Hey Girl
D2 Surrender
D3 Dream On



Art Direction – Blue Source, The Chemical Brothers
Engineer – Steve Dub
Engineer [Assistant] – Jon 'False Diamond' Collyer*, Ray Mascarenas
Performer [The Players] – Ed Simons, Tom Rowlands
Producer – The Chemical Brothers
Written-By – Simons*, Rowlands*