The Shoes
Chemicals
8/10
French production duo The Shoes' third album is both accessibly poppy and imaginatively out-there, a rare feat.
It's jammed with guest vocalists – Esser, Blue Daisy, the Mystery Jets' Blaine Harrison and more – but the listener's focus remains firmly on the song construction. The vibe is airy, blissed, druggy and Balearic, whether on its slow and tripped-out breakbeat numbers such as 'Submarine' and 'Vortex', or EDM-ish material such as the trap-tinted banger 'Us & I' and bro-step-flavoured 'Two Pills'.
Opener 'Made For You' sums things up, sounding like Years & Years if they'd been bathed in MDMA and were actually good.
It's the start of a juicy head-pop adventure.
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