Having your album shelved at the last minute because it was leaked on the internet seems like a pretty unlikely occurrence. But that is, apparently, what happened to Nick Bracegirdle AKA Chicane last time he tried to put a record out. I can only assume that the record company had little faith in it in the first place to take such drastic action.

Whatever happened, it meant Bracegirdle had to head back to the drawing board. Something he dutifully did, returning with Stoned In Love, a track that took Tom Jones right out of the valleys and made him sound cool in a way that none of his other flirtations with modern music have ever really managed.

Now comes Somersault, an aptly titled album, that shakes up the Chicane sound further and brings it down still recognisable but more urgent. Recent single Come Tomorrow is a stand-out track, as is the previously mentioned Stoned In Love. A spacey ambient instrumental, Arizona, sits as the album’s centrepiece, leading into the album’s hardest sounding (but still quite chilled, don’t worry) tracks and its only real low point, Far Away From You.

While Somersault is no massive departure from earlier Chicane albums, it is a clear attempt to do something different within a fairly confined sound. Fans will be pleased and perhaps pleasantly surprised by what they find.

Label: Modena
Website: www.chicanemusic.com
Release date: 23rd July 2007

Tracklist:

1. Stoned In Love
2. Always
3. Come Tomorrow
4. Nothing
5. Arizona
6. Spirit
7. Turning Corners
8. Far Away From You
9. Way I’m Feeling
10. Time Of Your Life