On their seventh studio album, the pioneering electronic music duo abandon guest vocal collaborations to concentrate more on ambient sounds. A mostly mellow record, 'Further' makes a good chill out soundtrack, but rarely thrills the way we know The Chemical Brothers can.

Since forming The Chemical Brothers in 1991, Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons have achieved mainstream success equalled by few other electronic acts. Further is their seventh studio album, and the first to lack any big name vocal collaborations. Instead, it creates melodic soundscapes, which build and layer an array of organic and synthetic sounds. The few vocals that are included are provided by Rowlands himself, while Wisconsin singer Stephanie Dosen also features on a number of tracks.

Dosen's sweet, girlish tones are first heard on slow burning opener 'Snow', repeating the phrase, 'Your love keeps lifting me higher' in what can be assumed is a shout out to Jackie Wilson's 60s classic. Segueing seamlessly from here into 'Escape Velocity', you get the first sense that this eight track album is intended as one cohesive work, rather than a collective of independent songs. Easily one of Further's strongest tracks, the 12 minute epic has a futuristic vibe that's almost hypnotic, working in the recognisable opening of The Who's 'Baba O'Riley' as if it were their own.

Though single 'Swoon' has a wonderfully catchy synth hook, and the 'K+D+B' has a charming psychedelic atmosphere, they can become a touch repetitive. The same can be said of this album as a whole. In the past, The Chemical Brothers' most successful songs were those that combined big beats, heavy bass lines and memorable vocal hooks - perfect dancefloor material. If you're expecting to find music to dance to here, you'll be disappointed. The closest they come to those kinds of grinding, pulsating beats is the enjoyably unnerving 'Horse Power', which is strangely compromised by the sound of a horse whinnying.

Yet, despite the absence of that all important "hit", it's a testament to Rowlands and Simons, that even when you're not really listening, Further somehow seeps into your head and gets well and truly lodged there.