When EMF made a surprise return with the wonderful Go Go Sapiens in 2022, I ended my effusive review with the words “don’t leave it so long next time!” In the months since, Go Go Sapiens has rarely been off the stereo – it’s an album of light and love – and far from dimming, my enthusiasm for the record has only grown. Happily, EMF have indeed not left it so long, returning far more quickly than anyone could have hoped, and with an album every bit the equal of its remarkable successor. Titled The Beauty And The Chaos it is another beautifully crafted record, offering subtly evolved songcraft, hooks aplenty, and the same mischievous sense of fun that first attracted fans when EMF dropped a certain single back in 1990.
Pressed on black vinyl, The Beauty And The Chaos is an album that feels made for the format, as it sonically harks back to the 90s when LPs were still very much the standard. It comes housed in a simple sleeve, with a printer liner with the full lyrics. This latter inclusion is particularly important, because James Aitkin has more to say than most, and it’s good to have everything to hand, given how quickly the album blazes past.
If Go Go Sapiens echoed the experience of attending a festival, The Beauty And The Chaos is closer to mirroring a night out, with all the attendant highs and lows. It starts with the glorious amphetamine rush of Hello People, a lyrically dense, but ultimately hopeful track that deserves to become this year’s festival anthem, and one for many years to come. The soundtrack to that first walk through a crowded city centre, it’s a bright and bold start to the album and it sets things up nicely. A pulsing beat announces the arrival of Reach For The Lasers, a toughened rave stomp, with huge swathes of guitars and a passing nod to Republica amidst the stuttering strobes. The track also connects to Keep It Coming from the last album only, where that track listed rock stars, this new track namechecks dance luminaries. Ian Dench pushes his way to the fore for 21stCentury, his crunchy riffs supercharging the song with a hint of Ramones cool. That punkish sensibility remains on Read The Room, which is built around a dry-as-bones drum beat, James throwing shapes and aping Brett Anderson as the guitars slowly build to a crescendo. The end result is a glam-infused and sweaty mess that has its sights set firmly on the dancefloor. Perhaps more surprising is the sleazy electro stomp ofI’ve Been Down, which takes Depeche Mode’s Personal Jesus, slide guitar and all, and drags it back into the dirty dive from which it emerged. A dark track, it concludes the first side with the listener sat in some dingy pub, whiskey glass in hand and the smell of stale fags permeating the air.
If the first side abandoned the listener in a less than salubrious establishment, the glorious The Day The Music Died heads out for some air, before plunging into a far brighter late night establishment. With layers of brass and a taut beat, the end result is caught somewhere between early Oasis and Screamadelica-era Primal Scream. The band keep things dynamic with Stardust, a track that recalls the Cure’s flirtations with electro, throwing in some early Orbital, and elements of gospel for good measure. As with most things EMF, it’s the beats and the melodies that you’ll remember after the first listen, but each repeat reveals more depth, making these songs guaranteed to stand the test of time. With the evening winding down, the reflective introduction toLookout Mountain has an air of gentle melancholy, although it builds to a climax that nods to the Stones’ Gimme Shelter, thanks to Awsa Bergstrom’s backing vocal arrangement and James’ rousing cry of “come join the future”. The angular Red Flags has Ian’s post-punk fingerprints all over it, the guitar and drums driving the track, before the night ends with the contemplative Do It Again – a strangely beautiful track, which mixes gritty 90s indie, post-rave comedown blues, and the melodies of the Beatles. It provides the album with a perfect conclusion, and the repeated title speaks as much to setting the record spinning all over again as it does to heading out on the town once more.
It’s tempting to think of EMF as a great singles band, and they certainly have a gift for producing tracks that are both musically and lyrically addictive. However, that it is to ignore the meticulous construction of their albums. To put an EMF album on the turntable is to lose yourself in a musical world for the duration and, in the case of The Beauty And The Chaos, you can almost feel the atmosphere of the various pubs and clubs the band guid you through over the course of the ten tracks on offer.
Honestly, I didn’t think they could top Go Go Sapiens – I absolutely love that album – and yet here we are with an album that, if not its superior, is at least its equal. Dive into The Beauty And The Chaos, this is one night out you’ll want to live over. 10/10
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