Rating: 3/5
Verdict: More drum 'n' bass for your head and legs, man
While many other drum 'n' bass acts are heading off into the dubstep direction, Concord Dawn remains staunchly loyal to the beloved genre of music they have been touting to dance floors around the world for a decade now. However, while fifth album The Enemy Within is jammed with dancefloor destroyers, like The Sum of all Things and the sparse but frenzied This is all There Is, which hark back to Concord Dawn's early albums, it is also unique on a few different fronts.
The album is the first since Matt Harvey's partner in dancefloor crime Evan Short departed two years ago. If anything has been lost it's possibly the more heavy-handed hammer and tongs approach Short brought to their music. But Harvey makes up for it by combining the lively, the trippy, and a good dose of musical diversity (all done within the bounds of drum 'n' bass).
So the punishing Burn at the Stake gives way to the 90s techno piano-driven One and Only, and first single Forever is inspired, with its dark 80s new romantic touch and Kiwi singer/musician-turned-producer Rikki Morris (remember Nobody Else from 1988?) in a brilliant, if unlikely, collaboration.
However, the trademark drum 'n' bass beats start sounding a little repetitive, which means maybe it's time to branch out a little more. Still, dancing is what Concord Dawn has always been about and there's plenty of tunes for that on offer here.
-TimeOut
