Brand New Machine

by Chase & Status

Overview

Rocking jungle and drum'n'bass music in 2013 is almost quixotic, as the dubsteppy club kids love those deeper bass drops, but no one told Chase & Status. If the results remain as good as Brand New Machine, here's hoping they never do. Here, the British electronic dance duo mash-up the system with tried-and-true genres like the full-on ragga-house number "International" (cry it out like a dancehall MC with a heavy patois accent and you've already got the exotic power of the hook), while the cool and diminutive 2-step track, "Blk & Blu," finds Ed Thomas playing the role of Craig David while Chase & Status combine to form MJ Cole. It's the guests who bring the modern flavors as Major Lazer twists the fat joint called "Pressure" into something fun and silly, while the growling and sharp Pusha T helps make "Machine Gun" sound like a bootleg mix some Internet kid ripped off Yeezus. Grand emotions, soulful vocals, and dramatic strings pour out of "Like That" with Moko, as if Massive Attack were still in business, and then "What Is Right," with Nile Rodgers and Abigail Wyles, slinks out of the speakers like the aforementioned Bristol crew had hooked up with Sade and Sweetback. All that said, Chase & Status pour so much enthusiasm, skill, and love into these old-school-flavored cuts that it matters little that they are not part of a "scene," and this charming lack of self-awareness extends to the pre-release announcement that the album is "darker" than before, which it may be, but just ever so slightly. Maybe it is punchier and more comfortable, but the important thing about this Brand New Machine is that it gives old-schoolers a reason to dust off their jungle hoodies and drum'n'bass shoes, while the 2013 set get a bottom-heavy, funky, and passionate alternative to the current crop of bright EDM and light indie electronica. ~ David Jeffries

Product Details

Release Date:	11/11/2013
Label:	Casablanca / Virgin Emi
UPC:	0602537509263

Tracks

1. Gun Metal Grey
2. International
3. Count On Me
4. BLK & Blu
5. Pressue
6. Machine Gun
7. Gangsta Boogie
8. Heaven Knows
9. Lost & Not Found
10. Like That
11. Deeper Devotion
12. Breathing
13. What Is Right
14. Alive

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Chase & Status   Primary Artist
Nile Rodgers   Primary Artist,Guitar,Featured Artist
Pusha T   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Knytro   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Jacob Banks   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Elli Ingram   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Louis M^ttrs   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Bo Saris   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Abigail Wyles   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Ed Thomas   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Skrillex   Primary Artist
Major Lazer   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Moko   Primary Artist,Featured Artist,Vocals
Riko   Primary Artist
Hal Ritson   Vocals,Keyboards
Holly Simpson   Piano,Strings
Louis Mattrs   Vocals,Featured Artist
MC Rage   Vocals
Suku   Vocals
Yolanda Quartey   Vocals

Technical Credits

Moko   Composer
Hal Ritson   Composer
Terrence Thornton   Composer
Saul Milton   Composer,Producer
Patrick Williams   Composer,Composer
Thomas Wesley Pentz   Composer
Matt Guthrie   Composer
Will Kennard   Mixing,Composer,Producer
Andre Gray   Composer
Ed Thomas   Composer
Abigail Wyles   Composer
Bo Saris   Composer
Toby Young   Composer
Louis Collard-Watson   Composer
Elli Ingram   Composer
Holly Simpson   Composer
Jacob Banks   Composer
John Macgillivray   Composer
Rob Swaden   Composer
Matthew Guthrie   Composer
Edwin Jeffries   Additional Production
Philip Thomas   Composer
Nile Rodgers   Composer
Sonny Moore   Composer
Rob Macfarlane   Engineer
Andy Gangadeen   Composer
Zane Lowe   Composer
Chris Lane   Composer
Zane Williams   Composer