Review Summary: Slick and immaculately produced; the best Chase & Status record since their debut
To quote Mr. Traumatik, I love my drum and bass. There's something about the inherent muckiness of down-and-dirty DnB that puts me immediately into the rave headspace, with foggy memories from my early twenties of huge club events and filthy clandestine motives in some unsecured city location. The different variants of the sound that flux between uplifting/ atmospheric á la Kasra and Andy C, to the disgusting, twisting bassiness of Toxinate and DJ Pleasure occupy a broad musical space in my brain. As a DJ (part-time, before I stroke my ego too much), the memories of events where such music formed intimate crowd connections is something that has both sustained my development in the field, and steered its trajectory outright. Chase & Status rose to prominence when DnB really wasn't my bag- It seemed too repetitive, and didn't sate my thirst for dynamism in the way I was used to at the time. This was before they dropped 'No More Idols', which was something of a turning point for me in this regard; a bold evolution and collab-centric record that leaned heavily into the mainstream preoccupations at the time, the album nonetheless inspired me with its accessible musicality and brash attitude. It felt like a deceptively delicate balancing act of underground and overground vibes, drawing influence from dubstep, grime, garage and assorted electronic genres. A display of shameless bandwagoning, surely, but not without conviction and a potent, energetic shot of adrenaline to its name, pandering notwithstanding. After the dillydallying of three forgettable interim full-lengths, What Came Before is a satisfying and curious release that has a soft focus far more in line with what a listener would expect from a DnB release in the modern age. It still wades at least ankle-deep in the mainstream, and on occasion fully submerges itself in it, but the more precise channelling of the drum and bass aesthetic is much more loyal to the modern game this time around. Wetting its beak in such offshoots as jump up, underground and jungle, the sound bounces from grimy and grassroots to rousing and anthemic at the flick of a switch. It's not an album that is free from complacency, but when it hits, it hits hard, and channels both the industrial sense of foreboding and bright-eyed optimism as only good drum and bass can.
Starting from the top, opening numbers, 'Don't Be Scared' and 'Go', are just okay. They conform to the genre tropes with a wispy efficiency, but don't provide any real meat in their by-numbers exercise, tolerable as they are. The party begins in earnest from third track, 'Censor', featuring the ever-reliable vocal strains of Popcaan lending an invigorating Jamaican lilt to the proceedings. IRAH also features on the track, having previously served as the vocal motif on previous single cut, 'Program', and lends just as much bassy bolshiness to this stellar entry. The beat is consistent, punctuated by a piercing bassline synth that undercuts the fluidity of the percussion. It feels nasty, but safe; a fact further emphasised by the trilling highs and thunderous lows of the intermittent bass. The confluence of accessibility and slight edginess lends nuance to the track, and the vocal lines serve the experience tremendously well. Second IRAH feature 'Headtop' is simpler in its development, but towers over its predecessor in form, being far more tech-influenced and expansive in its production. It doesn't hold attention in the way its precursor does, but it is nonetheless diverting, capitalising on the UK boy-racer aesthetic with a chippy, scattershot flow. Slightly further along on the album, 'Run Up', which features Unknown T, has the knuckle-dragging tech sensibility of classic banger 'Pulse X' by Youngstar, with a scrappy, stuttering hook and a jungle-inflected drumbeat. It's garish, but the city-by-streetlight vibe is pulse-pounding and the grime vocal is suitably cutting. Though not an out-and-out DnB number, it nonetheless exhibits the required attitude and sense of danger in droves, and scratches the gangsta itch quite admirably. Conversely, 'When It Rains' is a savage cut, laden with aggression and the virulent, punchy warps so indicative of dirty, underground DnB. The vocal motifs are blistering, smacking the listener out of the relative languidness of 'Headtop' and into a haughty, leering experience of pummeling bass and rolling drums. It's on these comparatively muckier cuts that What Came Before shines, merging fraught electronic scrapings with percussive anchors that saturate the mainstream influence and pull it down into the depths. Making both of these elements feel both faithful to their vibe is no mean feat, but Chase & Status pull it off admirably.
Purveying more of a liquid DnB vibe are the two-hit combo of 'Mixed Emotions' and 'Over & Done'. Both tracks are solid, and have that emotive strung-out afterparty feel down pat, although the second track is decidedly stronger than the first. It offers more in the way of texture, with a heartfelt vocal line that weaves about the consistent, Kasra-esque beat in an intuitive, expressive way. Both numbers have the unfortunate feel of padding for the album, despite being serviceable, mostly owing to the relative typicality of the production and the slapped-together nature of the elements. Regardless, they are enjoyable in their familiarity and the female vocals on both are gorgeous and offset well by the boldness of the music itself. 'Hold Your Ground', a shameless and slow-burn Pendulum knockoff, is similarly entertaining but again, lacks the breeziness afforded by the creativity on other album moments. The crashing cymbals of the beat during the number's latter half are admittedly uplifting, but it feels hollow due to the basic nature of the individual facets. The final run of the album, however, is a wicked three-track spree that captures all the best elements of the tracks preceding it. Third and final IRAH feature, 'Blazer', makes exceptional use of mash-up vocals to create texture, blending them into a slurry of electronica and fittingly heavy percussion. Melodies are formed through the clipped vocal bytes and are interwoven against the sonic backboard, managing to be both hard-hitting and subdued in its deft application. Follower 'Consciousness' is a bassy and beefy classic DnB outing, making use of sleazy woodwind motifs to punctuate the grooves. It has an air of sophistication, due in no small part to the instrumental choices, but also due to the careful blending of aesthetics. The result is a heady and eclectic merging that skitters like a lizard with ADHD, but not without purpose. Final offering 'Forgive Dark' is deep and broody; satisfyingly off-kilter with its squeezebox fluctuations and warped groove. As a concluding number, it feels appropriately wistful and even psychedelic, but is grounded by its simple yet satisfying drumloop; wizened and gritty, and alluring in its construction.
What Came Before doesn't feel like a bold statement, or even a particularly daring album by any stretch. It offers much the same vibe and atmosphere that Chase & Status have always produced, splashed out across 13 tracks clocking in at a shade under an hour. What it does do, is offer increased focus and efficiency in the duo's craft. There is little in the way of gimmickry, unlike on No More Idols, and it takes broad sidesteps to avoid being swept along with the mainstream-courting bravado of their debut, More Than Alot. It feels like their individual style, matured to a precise flex of electronic innuendos and tactile sonic strobes, and although it doesn't lean too heavily into either side of its edgy/ mainstream balancing act, it carefully tars its brush with a broad assortment of DnB sounds and styles. Excitable scrappiness and heavy-eyelid torpor sit shoulder to shoulder, and only on a few occasions does the experience feel underdeveloped or uninteresting. The preciseness of the album's focus is a testament to the prolonged efforts of these artists refining their craft, which is impressive considering the vast majority of genre offerings either sound like heard-it-all-before, sanitised bangers, or a synthesiser having an electrical short. It never strays far from the path of acceptability, but it is so efficient in how it executes its rave production that it scarcely matters. Overall, What Came Before is an unchallenging but exceptionally entertaining slice of modern DnB, with enough tension for the less hiveminded aficionados, and ample social appropriateness for casual listeners.
