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Apr 23, 2021 By Mark Redfern Photography by Hamish Brown

The Chemical Brothers (Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands) have shared a new song, “The Darkness That You Fear,” via a video for the single. It’s the electronic duo’s first new single since their 2019 album, No Geography, and is out now via Republic. Watch the video below.

Rowlands had this to say about the song in a press release: “‘The Darkness That You Fear’ is a hopeful piece of music. When we found the combination of the different voices worked set to the flow of the music, it made us feel optimistic—like it was something we wanted to share.”

Bristol, England-based director Ruffmercy (who’s worked with Thom Yorke, Run The Jewels, and DJ Shadow) made the video and had this to say: “When I first heard the song I immediately connected with the theme and the overall positive vibe. New government rules for relaxing lockdown had been announced and combined with the sun shining, it left me feeling positive about the forthcoming summer. It also triggered a strong sense of nostalgia that led to me going back to look for visual inspiration from the period in time when I first discovered The Chemical Brothers in the mid ’90s. The video combines archive rave footage from the mid to late ’90s with hand painted Super 8 film textures and hand drawn animation. I love using color to create chaos and evoke emotions and this was the perfect project to do that.”

The Chemical Brothers were previously on Astralwerks, but were brought to Republic by the label’s executive Glenn Mendlinger and he had this to add in the press release: “‘The Darkness You Fear’ marks the return of the mighty Chemical Brothers. It is a classic Chemical Brothers opus that is psychedelic, lush and full of optimism. Tom and Ed once again prove they are pioneers of the genre with this uplifting track that is perfectly timed as the world comes out of darkness into light and color.”

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