The right chemistry

Ed Simons (left) and Tom Rowlands are taking a more austere, politicised approach.

The Chemical Brothers don't go to the pub together every Friday night any more. They don't live in neighbouring London streets any more either. And they're not religiously going to the recording studio together every day.

Ed Simons has recently settled into married life and Tom Rowlands has been married for a few years now and is a "good family man". There are fewer late nights for the dark-haired Simons and the blond Rowlands.

Thing is, with all these life-changing situations the dance duo have managed to make their best album since 1997's Dig Your Own Hole.

On Push The Button the Chemical Brothers have relaxed, lessened the bleeps and stopped peaking.

So are they off the drugs or something? Because let's face it, if there is such a thing as an Ecstasy flashback then it's liable to be brought on by a Chemical Brothers song, such was the band's dominance of dance music through the 90s.

"I think Push The Button is a more austere production," explains Simons.

It is a step away from the escapism and psychedelia found on classic tracks like Leave Home, Block Rockin' Beats, and Hey Boy, Hey Girl. Not only is their sound more even and lush but the Chemical Brothers have for the first time done an R.E.M and tackled world issues. Yes, Left Right is another anti-war-in-Iraq song, but the simple chant of rapper Anwar Superstar over a military drum beat is more bearable than Michael Stipe's blatant politicking.

"Most of our records came out in the 90s and those were a lot more apathetic, hedonistic and decadent times," says Simons. "But nowadays it's hard not to be politicised in some way.

"We did have a debate, and questioned whether it belonged on a Chemical Brothers record. Our records have been so unpolitical, and so about hedonism, that it did feel different to have these words on our album. But at the same time we couldn't be unaffected by what's going on. It's a protest song, it has power, and passion and we were never gonna censor Anwar because we gave him that track and that's what the music suggested to him."

Although they may not be the most interesting band in the world, the Chemical Brothers continue to innovate.

However, their last two albums, Come With Us, which was flat, and Surrender, which had banging singles but was weak overall, have nothing on Push The Button.

"As bands go on, you can get caught up in a web of what people expect you to sound like. I think the last album, Come With Us, was a victim of that. I think [on the new album] Tom and I made a decision not to pander to how people would perceive the Chemical Brothers, and what the expectations were of how a Chemical Brothers record should sound. I think we've arrived at something pretty new."

They released their first track, Song To The Siren, in 1992. Try naming another dance act still together and making decent music after more than 12 years.

"Kraftwerk are still going strong," says Simons sarcastically.

We point out that the German electronic band - who, along with New Order and Public Enemy are a huge influence on the Chemical Brothers - have only released one album since 1986.

Simons then plucks at another straw. "Of our contemporaries, The Prodigy are still out there. The band has changed their format over the years, but they've done all right," he offers.

We don't tell Simons this, but the last Prodigy album was not good.

"I guess the way we've kept things fresh is hopefully our records have had a bit more substance and we haven't just relied on effects and gimmicks, and they've had some kind of feeling and emotion in them. We've always been a little bit more outside of the big monolithic dance scene that people often describe.

"A lot of records in dance music are very ephemeral and just work for that one moment of abandonment on the dance floor. Which is fine, I love records like that, a mad sound, a good drum pattern, and then off you go.

"But our music's always been the accidental dance music. The first record we ever put out, Song To The Siren, was a good 20 bpms [beats per minute] slower than anything going on at the time yet the DJs still found a way to play it. Our tracks just come in, and find a place."

Galvanize - a stealthy, Middle-Eastern flavoured track with added venom from rapper Q-Tip - is one of those tracks. Simons has had txt messages from DJ friends saying "they took the roof off with it on Friday night".

"It amazes me because it is again a very slow song, and it's got the rap on it, and it's not really what's happening in London's clubs at the moment, but people are finding a way to play it."

If you ask Simons about the state of dance music, and the scene as a whole, he'll tell you that not much has changed.

"You read a lot about the decline of dance music and that DJ culture is gone ... all those changes are talked about but never really seem to be in evidence. The only [perspective] I can talk about is when I'm DJing in a club and it seems pretty much like it's always been - people having a good time, people being young, foolish and happy."