The Chemical Brothers creates strong soundtrack

As Joe Wright’s new movie Hanna receives critical praise, the film soundtrack composed by Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, aka The Chemical Brothers, is equally scintillating. For any Chems fans, these unlikely jams prove the band’s music has no limits.

As Hanna assumes the position of a a young badass, The Chemical Brothers follows her long strides as she runs amok, causing expensive damage with every step she takes.

“Escape 700” brings together a Mission Impossible beat with A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire’s composer.

Yet, there is one thing missing: big drops, which The Chemical Brothers never failed to give its audience on its past efforts.

The soundtrack is different and less intense than what The Chemical Brothers normally produces with its LPs and live sets. Normally, we’d expect a more robotronic, intense drum and base sound. Not this time.

Although this sharper type of electronic mash might not be on the Chems’ track record, Rowlands and Simons adequately fulfill their duty as film composers.

Other mixes on the soundtrack give us aural shades of the classic Chemical Brothers and its ability to melt minds in the most melodic, orgasmic ways. In such moments, the dynamic duo renders the drama and action of Hanna far more riveting.

Rowlands and Simons run with Hanna in “The Devil is in the Beats,” which gives listeners the familiar urge to head-bob as as the words “Rock the Beat” surge in and out of the audio wavelengths.

Later, these beats coalesce with a muted, sitar-type rhythm. The Chemical Brothers has audibly branded this tune as one of its own, at least more so than others on the soundtrack.

In “Hanna’s Theme,” Rowlands and Simons employ their vocals in a surprising way that recalls similarly harmonic work in TV on the Radio’s “Mr. Grieves.”

Although the track is an easy listen and provides appropriate background music for Hanna and her rebellious ways, it still feels as though most other electronic groups, such as Nosaj Thing, Pretty Lights or even the notorious Soulwax, could have produced the same track with equal aplomb.

The soundtrack blends different styles of transition alongside calmer electronica. Some tribal beats can be heard, a car revving its engine appears faintly in the background and even ghost voices get their moment.

It’s calmer creativity at its best. The only track that comes close to the authentic Chemical Brothers is “Container Park.”

Because this soundtrack is conceptually different from what would normally be expected of Rowlands and Simons, it comes off as a noble testament to the Chems’ artistic audacity and willingness to experiment.

Often, artists who spend their careers slinging four-by-four beats and jams produce tracks indistinguishable from their contemporaries.

That’s what makes the Hanna soundtrack an admirable product — we see The Chemical Brothers in a more refined, patient light.

The two members exhibit more structural thought, more ease and more courage this time around. The drops are absent because here, they are not needed.

That being said, we shouldn’t get too comfortable with the softer effort from Rowlands and Simons, whose upcoming summer performances and swelling fanbase seem to indicate that the tracks of the soundtrack, will eventually be remixed for maximum pulverizing power.

The Chemical Brothers’ work on Hanna is a compelling means of proving the duo’s talents as competent musicians. But like the film’s heroine, who destroys everything in her path, the Chems seem destined to follow suit.