Faithless - To All New Arrivals.

Faithless are a band that seem to continue recording and releasing music, long after the media pronounce that dance music has died.
Of course, dance music never died, it just evolved. And Faithless have always been a band that have been able to set a benchmark for other wannabe's to follow.

The biggest mistake the media made with this band, is trying to pigeon-hole them. Once again, they stick two fingers up to music critics and prove that they are in a league of their own by producing yet another solid album.


As usual, there are guest vocalists. On this release we have Robert Smith from The Cure, Cat Power, Dido and Harry Collier, the guy who sings with the band Kubb who almost....almost broke into the big time earlier this year.

If you assign Faithless with songs such as "We Come One", "Insomnia" and "God Is A DJ" then maybe this isn't the album for you. That familiar pounding bass drum, itchy percussion, staccato vocals and anthemic synth line is very much vacant from this album.
There's so much more to this band than 'thumping anthems' and it's sad that most people miss out on that. That said, the mellow flow of easy beats, experimental synths, samples and chill out tracks aren't everybody's cup of tea.

What we have here is essentially a mellow album. Nothing stands out as potential club material, although no doubt there will be a mass of remixes flooding the dancefloors all over the place. And quite rightly so. But the band seem to have left the finer details of filling dancefloors with arms held high to the remixers.
In their own typical style, the lyrics have bite. Every once in awhile reminding the listener about famine, poverty, death, disease and basically bad politics.

There's lots of little samples spliced in here and there, some of them in the most awkward places. Children's voices are very apparent and I wonder if that's anything to do with 2 of the band members having little people of their own recently. Perhaps also a nod in that direction from the album's title?

Standout tracks are "Bombs" (featuring Harry Collier), being released as the leading single, "A Kind Of Peace" (featuring Cat Power) and "Last This Day" (featuring good old Dido).

This is by no means a flawless album.
The second track called "Spiders Crocodiles and Kryptonite" features Robert Smith on guest vocals and on first listen is quite the most bizarre collaboration. It begins with a twisted vocal sample, delivered as if some kid has just taken a lung full of helium and sounds not unlike a munchkin from The Wizard Of Oz. Once past this, the listener is greeted with a funky beat and driving bassline that almost makes you want to forgive them for such a crap intro. Then something familiar happens....a sample of the bassline and melody of "Lullaby" by The Cure. Now this sounds really promising, but don't hold your breath because in comes Mr Smith himself providing guest vocals, actually singing his own lyrics.
What the hell is that all about?
It just didn't work for me and it's a damn shame because the idea was quite brilliant.

There's a couple of instrumental tracks on the album, as per usual and they gel the rest of the tracks nicely together to ultimately provide a very listenable album.

The lack of anthemic songs on here make me wonder just where they're going with this release. It's a great album, don't get me wrong, but Faithless have always been synonymous with those singles that make you wanna crank up the volume, close your eyes and hold you hands up in the air. There's probably a couple of songs on here that would make good singles and gain a fair amount of radio play, but I can't help wondering why they've left out such a key element that is basically their 'trademark sound'.
I have no doubt the track featuring Dido is a potential single release and that in turn makes me wonder is the girl herself has finally finished her follow-up album. After all, what better way to get people talking about you again, huh?

So....A solid album that may not win many new fans over, but certainly shouldn't lose them any credibility.

This will be filed in my 'chill out nights' folder.
Nuff said.