Chemical Chords cover

Chemical Chords

Released

The sessions for Chemical Chords produced two albums – Not Music is the second half – and they seemed to shadow each other neatly, with all the brighter, hyper-pop moments on Chemical Chords. It’s not a surprise that the album’s so jaunty, given its provenance, with Stereolab’s Tim Gane editing together micro-loops of mere seconds as starting points for songs. For some, it can be a little too ingratiating, but Chemical Chords hits a sweet spot about a third of the way through, with the stirring drama of the title track, strings ever-ascending.

Jon Dale

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