1000 Albums Project

ALBUM 133

No More Idols, by Chase and Status
Suggested by Andy Scott-Morrissey

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a big chap. A little less big nowadays, thanks to a lockdown diet with fewer takeaway meals, but I still fill out a suit jacket with elan.

I come from a long line of feeders, and I’ve always been a friend of the buffet. The mantra is “little and often,” and while I’ve got the “often” part down pat, I do struggle with the “little” part. I can eat small portions, of course. I just need a lot of them.

Additionally, my tastebuds are pretty wild. If someone, somewhere, eats it, I’ll give it the old college try. Mysterious pickled fish, cuts of meat from the more operational body parts, even deep fried insects on a stick. Pop it on a plate, I’m game. I’m a true international gourmet, a globetrotting glutton with an adventurous streak.

No More Idols, by Chase and Status, is a sumptuous smorgasbord of worldly musical flavours backed with a Drum and Bass energy. It’s a fresh tasting menu of flavoursome vocal performances by strong talents, served on a bed of layered, thumping electronica. It’s a tapas bar table packed with exotic smells and savoury sweetmeats. How could I not dive right in and gobble it all up?

Chase and Status are a production duo who’ve worked with Rhianna, Rita Ora and Alexandra Burke. No More Idols is their second album, and includes a host of vocal contributors, from long-time collaborator Plan B to Dizzee Rascal, Tinie Tempah, Claire McGuire and many more. Each track has a fresh vocal stylist ready to coiffure the air between speaker and ear, and each track delivers innovation. From the shouting rap of Hypest Hype to the mellow stutter-groove of Midnight Caller,. There area lot of courses to this meal.

Backing each slice of dance-blast energy are the throbbing basslines and chest-bursting drums that typify the genre. There’s a lot of the old WUBWUBWUB here, so if you’re not a fan of the sound then steel yourself for disappointment. I’ve got a lot of time for Drum and Bass, as the beats are often delivered with a frenetic anger which imparts and anxious tension to the songs. It’s wound tight, ready to burst, and I like that knife-edge jig.

Both Brixton Breifcase and Heavy deserve a strong mention, but my favourite track is the first one, the African-infused No Problem. Yes, it starts with vocals, but it builds gloriously, and the writer / singer Takura Tendayi is both menacing and understated in his delivery.

I give No More Idols a score of 8/10. The album is delicious, and I’ll be dining on the Chase and Status back catalogue next time I’m feeling peckish.

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