The British electronic four-piece Clean Bandit mash classical music and pop forms for an airy and dreamy yet driven sound that's like the chamber music version of house music.
It's a sound best experienced on "Mozart's House," a well-built number that opens the group debut effort New Eyes with some tasteful, ultra-sheen beats and some clever rapping ("Little touch up, pizzicato/Relax the tempo, sip some rubato/And if I get too animated/Tan my face with adagietto"), and all while the world of cheese is kept at arm's length.
Clean Bandit are just too in love with music and too smart to let the songs fall into gimmicky Enigma territory, and they're too inventive to be easily explained off as something like Apocalyptica, the string quartet that plays Metallica numbers, but at an album's length, they're still challenged.
The beautiful and precious "Dust Clears" sits next to the precious and beautiful "Rather Be" and as such, the album seems limited by the time the track count is five, plus their penchant for playing it diminutive and serene with occasional flourishes that flutter to the sky is embraceable at first, and maybe irksome after a bit.
Myriad vocalists including Jess Glynne, Love Ssega, Lizzo, and Rae Morris help broaden the horizon and sound, and when sliced into two EPs, the micro-house and Mozart quotes feel wonderful together, losing none of their freshness.
The good news is this special group wasn't corporately coerced into something ridiculous, but even with the mash-up "gimmick," New Eyes remains such a small, subtle, and soft record that by the end, it doesn't feel very daring or different.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mozart's HouseGrace Chatto, Ssegawa-Ssekintu Kiwanuka, Jack Patterson | Clean Bandit | Play | 03:50 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 2 | ExtraordinaryGrace Chatto, James Napier, Jack Patterson, Gustave Rudman | Clean Bandit | Play | 04:16 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 3 | Dust ClearsGrace Chatto, James Napier, Jack Patterson | Clean Bandit | Play | 04:26 | 10 MB | 23 MB |
| 4 | Rather BeGrace Chatto, Nicole Marshall, James Napier, Jack Patterson | Clean Bandit | Play | 03:47 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 5 | A+EGrace Chatto, Jack Patterson | Clean Bandit | Play | 04:06 | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| 6 | Come OverGrace Chatto, Jason Andre McDermott, Jack Patterson | Clean Bandit | Play | 03:43 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 7 | CologneGrace Chatto, Uzoechi Emenike, Nicole Marshall, Jack Patterson | Clean Bandit | Play | 04:05 | 9 MB | 26 MB |
| 8 | Telephone BankingGrace Chatto, Ssegawa-Ssekintu Kiwanuka, Jack Patterson | Clean Bandit | Play | 03:50 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 9 | Up AgainGrace Chatto, Rachel Morris, Jack Patterson | Clean Bandit | Play | 04:20 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 10 | Heart on FireElisabeth Troy Antwi, Grace Chatto, Jack Patterson, Yukara Weeks | Clean Bandit | Play | 04:02 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 11 | New EyesGrace Chatto, Melissa Jefferson, Jack Patterson | Clean Bandit | Play | 03:46 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 12 | BirchNeil Amin-Smith, Jack Patterson, Eliza Shaddad | Clean Bandit | Play | 04:15 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 13 | Real Love | Clean Bandit | Play | 03:39 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 14 | Stronger | Clean Bandit | Play | 03:42 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 15 | Show Me Love | Clean Bandit, Elisabeth Troy | Play | 03:26 | 7 MB | 25 MB |
| 16 | Up Again (Drumsound; Bassline Smith Remix) | Clean Bandit, Rae Morris | Play | 03:28 | 7 MB | 26 MB |
| 62 mins | 144 MB | |||||
| 62 mins | 407 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neil Amin-Smith | Composer, Violin |
| 2 | Elisabeth Troy Antwi | Composer |
| 3 | Noonie Bao | Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 4 | Sharna Bass | Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 5 | Grace Chatto | Cello, Composer, Producer, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 6 | Nikki Cislyn | Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 7 | Wez Clarke | Mixing, Programming |
| 8 | Clean Bandit | Primary Artist |
| 9 | Nick Cohen | Additional Production |
| 10 | Matt de Jong | Art Direction, Design |
| 11 | Steve Dub | Mixing |
| 12 | Uzoechi Emenike | Composer |
| 13 | Andy Gangadeen | Additional Production |
| 14 | Jess Glynne | Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 15 | Jake Gordon | Engineer |
| 16 | Josh Grigg | Producer |
| 17 | Lewis Hopkin | Mastering |
| 18 | Javeon | Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 19 | Melissa Jefferson | Composer |
| 20 | Ssegawa-Ssekintu Kiwanuka | Composer |
| 21 | Lizzo | Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 22 | Matt Maguire | Viola |
| 23 | Nicole Marshall | Composer |
| 24 | Jason Andre McDermott | Composer |
| 25 | Kandaka Moore | Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 26 | Benedict Morgan | Photography |
| 27 | Rachel Morris | Composer |
| 28 | Rae Morris | Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 29 | Jimmy Napes | Vocals |
| 30 | James Napier | Composer |
| 31 | Liam Nolan | Engineer |
| 32 | Jack Patterson | Art Direction, Bass, Body Percussion, Composer, Drums (Steel), Keyboards, Mixing, Piano, Producer, Unknown Instrument, Vocals |
| 33 | Luke Patterson | Drums |
| 34 | Beatrice Philips | Violin |
| 35 | Mark Ralph | Mixing, Producer |
| 36 | Florence Rawlings | Vocals (Background) |
| 37 | Gustave Rudman | Composer |
| 38 | Eliza Shaddad | Composer, Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 39 | Brett Shaw | Engineer |
| 40 | Love Ssega | Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 41 | Anthony Strong | Piano |
| 42 | Stylo G | Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 43 | Elisabeth Troy | Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 44 | Yukara Weeks | Composer |
| 45 | Asher Zaccardelli | Viola |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |