Chase And Status – No More Idols

For those who are unfamiliar with Chase & Status, they are, essentially, two rather middle-class, white, slightly geeky blokes who met at university and began to conquer the dark and moody world of drum and bass, and all its heavily bass-induced musical siblings. Achieving a phenomenal amount of fame in a relatively short period of time, the Chase & Status boast such celebrity fans as Snoop Dogg, Rihanna and Pharrell Williams from N*E*R*D.

They have been releasing tunes off their new album, No More Idols, since late 2009, when End Credits featuring urban artist Plan B, featured in the film Harry Brown. This was the first Chase & Status tune to appear in the UK Singles Chart Top 10, and catapulted the London duo into the mainstream.

No More Idols left me confused; it tried to do too much in one album and subsequently, it lacks cohesion. For instance Hocus Pocus is dark and nasty drum and bass filth, and two tunes along, I’m listening to their collaboration with White Lies, Embrace which I can only describe as a Depeche Mode-inspired power ballad.

Maybe it’s the musical snob within me which is allowing me to pick holes. It’s a very listenable album, with some really good tunes. For me, the aforementioned Hocus Pocus, Time featuring the elusive and beautifully voiced Delilah and their first release, End Credits are the productions which really stand out.

All genres need some amount of commercial success to allow new generations of music-lovers to gain appreciation for that type of music, so I guess No More Idols serves a purpose. There will be fourteen-year-olds all over the country who listen to this album and decide that drum and bass really floats their boat. However for those who already know and love drum and bass, No More Idols is hardly innovative or barrier-breaking. It’s a fun little album, but it’s no future classic.

www.chaseandstatus.co.uk