Chicane - The Whole Is Greater Than The Sum Of Its Parts Album Review
Admit it - if you were born before 1990 there's a good chance you've lost it at some point to a Chicane track, be it at the work's Christmas do or some dodgy nightclub you were too drunk to make an excuse not to go to. In real life, a solus project of Nick Bracegirdle (you can see why the pseudonym works better) its remarkable longevity as a thing is probably due in part to having appeal for both the Asda mums and estuary tweens, the two nowadays being able to dance together around their handbags to early singles such as 'Offshore' and 'Sunstroke'.
'...The Sum of Its Parts' is Bracegirdle's sixth album, but the first made since the EDM movement - which he could rightly claim to be a granddaddy of - finally sunk its teeth into American teenagers. To be fair to him, whilst it might have been a fairly obvious career move to ape Porter Ricks or Deadmau5, there's no discernible move to accommodate a market which you assume would lap some of this stuff up here: we're still strictly Ibiza-lite.
Opening with the semi-operatic chimes of 'Eglise', it would seem equally fair to believe that the Chicane sound might've been uncoupled from its simplistic moorings. This mistaken preconception lasts until its successor '38 Weeks' kicks in, which despite having former Dead Can Dance singer Lisa Gerrard giving the whole thing some much needed dignity soon degenerates into highly formulaic (and familiar) territory. In her 4AD days renowned for being something of a diva, the Australian also makes an appearance later on 'Orleans', a distinctly more satisfying glide into flotation tank ambience.
Continue reading: Chicane - The Whole Is Greater Than The Sum Of Its Parts Album Review
