Cut to the Chase: The fifth album from dance crossover kingpins Basement Jaxx is their usual smorgasbord of styles and genres, but it's also their most consistent to date. Yoko Ono, Santigold, Amp Fiddler and Yo Majesty all give star turns. A triumphant album that's more thriller than filler.
Basement Jaxx have had a few ups and downs during their career. While Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe have been responsible for some of the undoubted best dance songs of the past decade, their albums have usually been somewhat patchy affairs, balancing bona fide classics with comparative filler. Their wise choice of singles - almost every one of them a hit - has disguised this to a certain degree, but 2006's 'Crazy Itch Radio' was demonstrative of their lack of consistency.
A quick luck at the guest collaborators on album number five says it all: Basement Jaxx are back with a bang and are going to do their damndest to thrown the kitchen sink into the mix this time. It's the most diverse group they've come up with to date; Lightspeed Champion, Eli 'Paperboy' Reed, Amp Fiddler, Santigold and Yoko Ono have all been roped in to contribute to 'Scars'. It's a canny move, too - such an eclectic bunch inevitably means an eclectic group of sounds based around the duo's dance-pop base.
In contrast to their other albums, there's a definite absence of filler here, too. The vigorous pace is sustained by the big Calvin Harris-style euphoric chorus of 'Raindrops', the soulful inflections of Sam Sparro ('Feeling's Gone') and Eli 'Paperboy Reid ('She's No Good'), and particularly on the schizophrenic, effects-heavy 'Twerk', featuring now-disbanded rap duo Yo Majesty. Heck, even Yoko Ono pulls it out of the bag with the warm, catchy doodles of 'Day of the Sunflowers', her crazy ramblings ("Open like a flower, come get naked with me") more endearing than irritating. A triumph for a group who are still churning out great songs after 15 years in the business.
