Article Surfing Archive

The Chemical Brothers are made up of childhood friends Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, and are a Grammy Award winning electronic music sensation. Originally referred to as the The Dust Brothers until a legal threat from another band of the same name, they changed their name in 1995 after a successful tour of the U.S.

The Chemical Brothers are one of the few bands that successfully made the transition to arena-sized concerts, and the fact they are an electronic act makes this feat even more impressive. Along with The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers have become known as pioneers of the big-beat electronic dance genre, and have a reputation unsurpassed for their use of complicated sound and light effects to produce amazing live gigs.

In the studio, they have been releasing albums since 1995, when they first put out Exit Planet Dust. Shortly after its release they were snapped up by Virgin Records, under which they started their own offshoot label, Freestyle Dust.

During that year's Glastonbury Festival, Rowlands and Simons met up with Noel Gallagher from Oasis, who told them how much he liked their debut album, and that he would like to sing on a future track. They got together and recorded Setting Sun, the song being released in October 1996. It gave the duo their first number one single, and also starting a popular trend they would continue, of working with guest vocalists.

In 1997 the Chemical Brothers released their second album, Dig Your Own Hole, after recording it at their studio in south London. During that summer they toured extensively, playing clubs and festivals, particularly in the United States. In Tokyo, they became residents in the Liquid Rooms.

After a break of almost two years, the Chemical Brothers returned with a new single which signalled a subtle change in direction. Hey Boy, Hey Girl was immediately a more commercial record, and as a result went to number 3 in the UK charts and gained them huge publicity.

The third album, Surrender, was released in June 1999, again featuring the likes of Noel Gallagher on backing vocals. The album reached number 1 in the UK and received widespread recognition from all sections of the music press.

Memorable gigs at Glastonbury and a UK tour followed. The album Come With Us was released in 2001, but it was less well received than any of their previous work. This didn't prevent it topping the UK charts in its first week of release however, as they proved their fan base was loyal to the core.

Early in 2003, the Chemical Brothers went back into the studio to work on new material, including The Golden Path, a collaboration with Wayne Coyne, lead singer of The Flaming Lips. This came out in September 2003, around the same time their Singles 93-03 (best of) album was released.

The following year, they were back in the studio to work on their fifth studio album, Push The Button, again featuring collaborations with Tim Burgess, Kele Okereke and Anwar Superstar, amongst others. The album was released in January 2005 and saw good initial sales, but it wasn't until July 2007 that the Chemical Brothers released their best-selling sixth album, We Are the Night.

To help promote this, the Chemical Brothers embarked on a hugely sucessful UK tour this December. Their latest single from the album, The Salmon Dance, is out now.

Discography

1995: Exit Planet Dust
1997: Dig Your Own Hole
1999: Surrender
2002: Come With Us
2005: Push the Button
2007: We Are the Night