If the showpiece of 1995’s Leftism was John Lydon’s splenetic presence on ‘Open Up’, then another collaboration with state-of-the-nation provocateurs provides a highlight of Leftfield’s third album. ‘Head And Shoulders’ finds Sleaford Mods spouting comical lastorders lingo over woozy pubstep, as Leftfield henchman Neil Barnes again liberally guestlists singers to blur clubland distinctions. Polica’s Channy Leaneagh bares sinewy soul to intense electropop on ‘Bilocation’, while Tunde Adebimpe is submerged by ‘Bad Radio’’s unswerving android throb. But Leftfield didn’t get the progressive-house rep for nothing, and it is big-bottomed astral bangers, such as the granite-hewn techno of ‘Universal Everything’ and the clammy acid surges on ‘Little Fish’, that will keep this superstar soundsystem in arena-sized sellouts.
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Buy: Leftfield – Alternative Light Source
Live: The Forum – June 12th (sold out)