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