This Is What We Do

Que du bon Leftfield. C'est quoi ces sons de malades ? Aussi bon que Leftism et Rythme and Stealth. Ils y ont mis le temps ! Mais ça valait le coup. Il y a longtemps que je n'avais pas écouté un album 3 fois de suite et en ayant l'envie de le réécouter le lendemain et encore et encore.

Just Like rock bands such as Boston and The Stone Roses before them, Progressive House Kings Leftfield have been somewhat cursed by the massive success and critical acclaim earned by their debut album. With its fusion of house, techno, ambient and dub complete with intelligent lyrics, Leftism was The 1990s Dark Side of The Moon for the clubber generation. Problem however when make a debut that good it can often be a millstone and Leftfield have struggled to follow this up to satisfy all of the key stakeholders - fans, critics and record companies. Both follow up albums 1999’s Rhythm and Stealth and 2015’s Alternative Light Source – the later released after a 16 year long hiatus (minus Paul Daley with replacement Alan Wren joining main man Neil Barnes) were certainly solid enough efforts but definitely patchier and as albums didn’t quite hit the same dizzy heights of Leftism despite containing some absolutely killer individual tracks.So how does the new album fair? This is What We Do fuses the harder, heavier sounds of Rhythm and Stealth & Alternative Light Source along with the sort of diverse quality material that made Leftism great. So like Leftism it’s got that additive quality of having a series of quality techno tracks to repeatedly play the entire album from start to finish that the two previous albums lacked.There are several instant classics on this album including the opener and title track which nods to the Chemical Brothers. The standout track is the single Pulse, another single Accumulator is pretty strong too. Full Way Round reminds me of Mid / Lates Nineties songs by fellow Progressive House kings Underworld such as Pearl’s Girl and Born Slippy with its angry (heavily Dublin accented by Grian Chatten of by Fontaines D.C.) voice with the aggressive beats of The Prodigy. Making a Difference featuring poet Lemn Sissay is Leftfield’s best vocal collaboration since Open Up with John Lydon ok he’s reading a poem but the way he delivers it and the quality of the Leftfield accompanying track is just sublime. Power of Listening an upbeat pacey techno closing track is brilliant too. City of Synths positively pulsates like the car ride in Kraftwerk’s Autobahn has reached its final destination of a futuristic city. Rapture 16 (featuring Earl Sixteen) is a atmospheric dark dub at its best. The rest of the album is pretty damn good too and there isn't anything to complain about.Leftfield have definitely unleashed their best album in years and I have taken to This is What We Do like the proverbial duck to water. A Leftfield album that does exactly what it says on the tin.

Come al solito i Letfield sono eccezionali

Really good album from Leftfield. Track 2 is a banger of a track just like orbital and chemical brothers there sound evolves as dance music always does. Everyone who thinks it be like there first album will find it doesn't work that way. Play it loud

Can we treat the career of Leftfield as a whole? For many, Leftfield is the first 2 albums and what has followed is incidental. A tad unfair, as last album Alternative Light Source, whilst not being on the same high standards as previous work, it was still pretty good. Certainly nothing to be ashamed of. Well this album is even better. It can sit comfortably in the same vicinity as the first 2. There is a nice flow to the album with decent, quality tracks. I would say it's not far behind Rhythm & Stealth for overall quality. I'm enjoying it and the more I play it, the better it gets.