Chemical Brothers resist formula with "Night"

NEW YORK (Billboard) - If you had told the Chemical Brothers after their first release in 1995 that they would one day cut a weird little track with Q-Tip that would top the United Kingdom's year-end radio charts, back an American beer commercial and win a Grammy Award, they might have toasted you clear out of the room.

But last year's "Galvanize" -- a genre-agnostic, electro-Indian-hip-hop ditty -- did all three, transforming the duo from fan-favorite festival band into one of electronic music's only multiplatform international forces. Follow-up album "We Are the Night" (Astralwerks), out June 19, might repeat history, but only because it's not trying to.

"For us there's that excitement of making things that aren't supposed to be in that environment," said the duo's Tom Rowlands. "There are armies of people trying to make the most-played record on our national radio station -- lots of men in small rooms signing young girls or boys to make a thing that is that. And we sort of just hit upon this strange combination that appealed to us."

That formula -- or lack thereof -- has been key to the endurance of Rowlands and Ed Simons' music. Their sound was kicked off by 1997's "Block Rockin' Beats," an anthem of the big beat era, and has since been bolstered by gems like beautiful fuzz-blast "Setting Sun" and dance-floor history lesson "It Began in Afrika."

Their unpredictable, melting-pot style is also behind their recent love affair with marketers, especially Budweiser Select. The brand merged "Galvanize," with features Q-Tip's vocals, with its urban-cool TV spots and offered a free ringtone of the track on budselect.com.

The commercial proved so popular that Budweiser created more "Galvanize" spots.

Meanwhile, the album's first single, "Do It Again," is making an impact in clubs. Rowlands and Simons pressed 12-inch vinyl copies and hand-distributed them to DJs early this year, and commissioned a remix from electro wunderkind Matthew Dear (under his Audion moniker).

A quirky collaboration with rapper Fatlip, "The Salmon Dance," will probably serve as the second U.S. single, and tracks with buzz band Klaxons ("All Rights Reversed") and singer/songwriter

Whatever the genre, Rowlands and Simons are quite happy to be where they are. "Electronic artists always say that in interviews: 'This is a steppingstone, what I really want to do is soundtracks,"' Rowlands said. "But what we're doing, this is the thing we wanted to do."

Reuters/Billboard

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