Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons were the archetypal dance artists of the late 90s - polite, middle-class students with a fascination for technology that bordered on the obsessive. Unlikely stars you might think, but stars the unassuming Manchester duo became in 1997 with the Noel Gallagher collaboration Setting Son and the excellent accompanying album Dig Your Own Hole. Their fourth long-player is a slightly more uneven effort but still an impressive example of the Chemicals' anything-goes philosophy, taking in thundering beats, loop-based electronica and obscure techno samples. The indie crossover theme is maintained, meanwhile, through vocal contributions from Beth Orton (excellent) and Richard Ashcroft (alarmingly bad). Come With Us is an aural headtrip that's sufficiently diverse to work both on dancefloors and bedroom stereos - not quite the Chemicals' best work but certainly lively enough to shake off the New Year cobwebs.
