Chicane's Giants Reviewed On Entertainment Focus

"Chicane aka Nick Bracegirdle returns with new album Giants, his first new material since 2007's Somersault. Yep that very same man that brought you those trance hits Saltwater and Halcyon that ruled the Ibiza skylines.

Nick Bracegirdle describes this as "related but evolved to the older albums". And so with Summer almost over, we wondered if this album would ignite the dancefloors once more.

Opening track Barefoot seems to pick up where things left off. Its a great synth instrumental that bubbles over your subconsciousness. And Adam Young's voice is a fresh breeze on Middledistancerunner. Come Back, a reworking of Paul Young's Come Back And Stay is reborn as a techno piece that seems to have a slightly Bloodhound Gang Discovery Channel feel to it. It seems to work well enough. There's more vocoder distorted voices on What Am I Doing Here Part 1which has us guessing who it might be.

A real highlight is Poppiholla 5am, an update of a reworking of Sigur Ros'Hoppipolla. Its lighter, more effervescent and as it suggests, a song to spin at the crack of dawn, a sleeper anthem for the Summer Sun. Elsewhere there's more trance anthems with Where Do I Start and From Where I Stand (could that be I Blame Coco ?). There's some old school classic synth dance stuff with Hiding All Stars (which features part time live vocalist Tash Andrews).

Lemar's distorted vocals glide over What Am I Doing Here Part 2 and its still typical Chicane. Very airy, breathy and atmospheric. A rework ofMiddledistancerunner closes the album in the same emphatic way it started. With some great synth pervading the track and a great dance beat.

This is a welcome return for Chicane. Certainly his sound has evolved a bit but its still essentially the same and Mr. Bracegirdle excels at providing us with Summer anthems to greet the dawn with and Giants is right up there to help deliver him to the top once more."

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