Struggling to reclaim their mojo in recent years, following the departure of Mani and Kevin Shields, Primal Scream have yet to deliver a killer album this century to match their beloved 1990s peaks.
Chaosmosis is not an explosive comeback, but it does at least contain flickers of the band’s lysergic disco-punk magic. Guest vocalists include LA sibling trio Haim, who back Bobby Gillespie on the syncopated retro-psych groove_ Trippin’ On Your Love_, which sounds like a watered-down Screamadelica out-take, and the more stomping 100 Per Cent Or Nothing.
The young singer-songwriter Sky Ferreira also lends her sultry sighs to the shimmering electro-rock duet Where The Light Gets In. There are shades of New Order on the prowling synth-pop chanson (Feeling Like A) Demon Again, while the crepuscular chamber-folk ballad Private Wars radiates a fragile, breathy melancholy.
The Scream always talk a good fight, billing their 11th studio album as a statement of beauty in dark times. But, as on many previous occasions, a lack of melodic muscle and lyrical depth hobbles Gillespie’s world-conquering ambitions.
