Interviewing Leftfield main man Neil Barnes in Dublin five years ago, I came away with the impression of a man with a perfectionist streak, who took painstaking care with all aspects of the group’s output. Barnes’ exacting approach was certainly in evidence during Leftfield’s show at Tripod later that night, a truly stunning performance packed with barnstorming electro workouts.
The producer has maintained his exceptional level of quality control on the superb Alternative Light Source, only the third Leftfield album after the landmark ‘90s pair of Leftism and Rhythm and Stealth. Tracks such as ‘Bad Radio’, ‘Bilocation’ and ‘Little Fish’ show that Barnes has not lost his touch for darkly seductive dance grooves, while the chilled ambience of ‘Dark Matters’ and the title track’s dreamy folk atmosphere (reminiscent of Barnes’ beloved Led Zeppelin) nicely showcase Leftfield’s quieter side.
The standout moments, however, are ‘Universal Everything’ and ‘Head And Shoulders’, the former a hypnotic trance number, the latter a dubstep gem topped with stream-of-consciousness poetry, putting one in mind of a catchier Burial. Elsewhere, Barnes ventures into harder-edged techno territory on ‘Shaker Obsession’, and incorporates throbbing industrial synths on ‘Levitate For You’, a track that recalls Trent Reznor’s side project, How To Destroy Angels.
Alternative Light Source may be the first Leftfield album since 1999, but like Blur – whose The Magic Whip also arrived after 16 years – Barnes has proved that plenty of the old magic still remains.