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It’s here! It’s finally here!
That’s right: it’s the first jaw-droppingly fantastic music video from the Chemical Brothers that we’ve seen in some time!
Forgive the exclamation marks, but there’s a reason for such enthusiasm. You see, from very early on, the Chemical Brothers were a powerhouse, spearheading the Big Beat electronica movement in the late 90s that wound up being shared with the likes of Daft Punk and Fatboy Slim, eventually opening doors for even crazier acts like Basement Jaxx to walk through. Well, part of the charm of the Chemical Brothers has always been their visual element, as this is a band that constantly and reliably delivers excellent, fantastically entertaining music videos through and through. When Astralwerks released the duo’s “Singles” collection a few years back, the accompanying DVD provided highlight upon highlight, as some of the greatest auteurs to ever control the medium had all had their hand in at least one Chem Bros. clip: Spike Jonze (“Electrobank”), Michel Gondry (“Star Guitar” and the incredible “Let Forever Be”), Chris Milk (“The Golden Path”), and many more.
Yet the Brothers have lapsed as of late, as the videos and singles from album Push the Button failed to make much of an impact, which turned out to be doubly true for their last effort, We Are the Night, as both “Do It” and the regrettable “Salmon Dance” showed that the duo were slowly, painfully running out of steam.
So it’s nothing but a joy to find the Dom & Nic-helmed clip for “Midnight Madness”, the single from the Chem’s latest compilation Brotherhood, to be exactly what we’ve been waiting for. Riding one of the must fluid and lucid beats the guys have come up with in years, the video—one of the rare ones to not have an image of the Bros. anywhere in it—features a glitter-suited demon creature coming out at night in some alley, gleefully engaging in jaw-dropping breakdance moves in a frentic display of body kineticism. The clip is a mixture of well-done computer graphics and live dancing that work quite well in tandem. It really has to be seen to be believed.
Yeah, maybe the Brothers are finally back on track ...
