With their debut (1995), The Chemical Brothers laid the foundation for a new dance genre named after them: chemical beats. With the even harder and more brutal follow-up from 1997 and the hit Block Rockin 'Beats, they went a step further. You would expect that Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons would take another step forward with their third full-length, but they rather go a few steps back in time on
… Surrender. The heavy thumping big beats have made way for more 80s synthesizer sounds and beats. Examples are the opening track Music: Response (with vocoder voice), the like, by sung Out Of Control and the staged disco tracks Under The Influence, Got Glint? and the hit Hey Boy Hey Girl. The psychedelic 60s can even be seen in songs like Let Forever Be, with vocals from ' , and the title track with sitar sounds. (WvdZ)more
