Immersion (Warner Bros.)

 Starting off with a theatrical opening that wouldn’t be out of place on the soundtrack of an action-packed Matt Damon movie, drum and bass veterans Pendulum are out to prove they’ve still got it with their studio album.

On first listen there appears to be nothing new here. ‘Crush’ is pretty much a re-hash of the mediocre ‘Propane Nightmares’ and ‘Watercolor’s’ cheesy trance sound is classic Pendulum fare. But there’s an interesting combination of electronica with dancehall vibes on track, ‘Set Me On Fire’, which sees the band going in more of a dubstep direction.

The two-part track ‘Island’, split into ‘Dawn’ and ‘Dusk’ again sees a shift in sound, with a strong house vibe on both tracks that fits well on an album that frequently switches styles. Whether all this chopping and changing really works is another matter -  in such a fast -moving genre its understandable that Pendulum want to stay relevant, but relevance has taken precdence over consistency.

There are yet more amateur dramatics on, ‘Encoder’ and the awkward metal spin on ‘Self Vs Self’ shoots the album off in a completely different direction. The cynical listener will question whether this fluid movement from one style to another is simply a way for  Pendulum to maintain their commercial success. All in all, an album full of variety but lacking in any real tunes. 

Related posts:

1. Nedry Condors, Monotreme With the ever growing commercial success of British dance music, it seemed inevitable that it would infiltrate the establishing pop sound of 2010....
2. Anberlin New Surrender (Universal Republic)First listening to New Surrender’s opening track “The Resistance’ one thought echoes in the cranium: another band jumping onto the “emotional rock’...
3. The Dead Weather Horehound (Third Man/Warner Bros.) The Dead Weather’s second album is a strange affair.  On the one hand, there is Jack White’s Midas touch, alongside the...
4. Mr Hudson His first single, Supernova, was one of the summer’s biggest hits, he’s an Oxford graduate and his mentor is Kanye West Mr. Hudson seems to...
5. Headliner Eric Prdz talks to LS about Creamfields 2010 INTERVIEW There are few DJ’s who succeed in hitting the heady heights of DJ superstardom, however, Eric Prydz is one such artiste.   This Swedish DJ/Producer...